False croup occurs from a variety of pathogens. It is most commonly experienced by preschool children, but adults can also be exposed to this unsafe symptom.
If you react incorrectly to an attack of stenosis and do not help the patient, the consequences can be very sad, even fatal.
What are cereals?
First of all, this condition is a medical emergency. There are two concepts of croup - true and false. The first appears against the background of such a dangerous disease as diphtheria.
In this case, a film envelops the human larynx and suffocation appears. Diphtheria is contagious and can only be avoided by vaccination.
True croup is removed exclusively in a hospital and a person cannot cope with it on his own. Diphtheria is a very dangerous disease, which, even in a hospital setting, with proper treatment and administration of serum, gives a 30% mortality rate.
False croup occurs against the background of an infectious orallergic pathogen and in this case only the muscles of the larynx swell. This condition is also extremely dangerous and can lead to suffocation.
Why does false croup occur in children?
In this category of the population, the development of laryngeal edema is associated with the anatomical structure of the organs. At an early age, the lumen in the throat is still quite narrow and, against the background of any inflammatory process, the muscles swell. As a result, the ligaments close in the larynx and the child cannot fully breathe.
Most often this pathology affects children under 6-7 years of age. By this time, the organs grow and take the form almost like an adult. And even if there is a spasm of the larynx, then parents can already cope with it on their own.
Most often, false croup occurs in children against the background of viral infections. Basically, it can be encountered during a disease with laryngitis. And also this symptom may appear due to a banal SARS, not to mention more difficult infections.
Pediatricians identify several major viral diseases that can cause false croup in children:
- flu;
- measles;
- parainfluenza;
- adenovirus.
The causative agents of these infections most often affect the walls of the larynx and cause swelling in them. First aid for false croup should be provided in a hospital setting or by an ambulance team if the attack happened for the first time or is getting worse every minute.
Allergic children often suffer from this symptom. They may facesuffocation against the background of reactions to the eaten product, drug, smell, insect bite. Therefore, the parents of such children should always have the necessary drugs with them to combat false croup and clearly be able to follow the doctor's instructions given in advance.
What time of day does it occur most often?
If a child is prone to swelling of the larynx, then adults with any cold should carefully monitor his condition. Most often, the symptoms of false croup appear already on the first or second day of the disease.
The child begins to cough frequently and obsessively with a specific sound. It is also called "barking". In this period, there is practically no sputum discharge. And also hoarseness of voice gradually appears up to its complete loss.
These symptoms should already alert parents and prepare in advance for possible suffocation. Most often, croup begins at night, and more precisely at 2-4 hours, and there is a scientific explanation for this.
In the second half of the night, the body stops producing adrenal hormones, which are responsible for removing edema and preventing allergic reactions. Therefore, it is at this time that suffocation can rapidly develop.
If a false croup occurs due to an allergic reaction, then the time of day does not affect its appearance. It develops almost immediately or a short period after the allergen enters the body.
Do adults have it?
Unfortunately, the answer to this question is yes. But the percentage of those exposed to this phenomenon is not as high as in children. More oftenAllergy is the cause of this condition.
Adults suffering from any manifestation of a dangerous disease should be prepared for the possibility of suffocation. Very often the larynx swells from a bee or wasp sting.
And also croup can occur as a result of the food eaten, which causes allergic reactions in a particular person. People who are prone to frequent broncho-pulmonary diseases, especially asthma, often suffer from suffocation.
But don't confuse croup with bronchospasm. These are two different dangerous human conditions, which are removed with medications according to different schemes. With an asthmatic attack, it is difficult to exhale, and with a false croup, the patient cannot fully inhale.
During viral infections in adults, the lumen of the larynx also narrows, but due to the sufficient size of this organ, the likelihood of suffocation is extremely small. Most often, only a hoarse voice or a completely sit down voice.
Main symptoms of false croup
There are several main signs by which one can understand that suffocation is approaching or has begun:
- "barking cough";
- hoarse voice;
- shortness of breath;
- difficulty inhaling;
- whistle when breathing;
- expressed panic;
- blue face.
It is worth noting that if an adult is hoarse or coughs, then this is not yet a sign of croup. But the onset of symptoms in a child should alert parents, and in case of a severe attack, an ambulance should be urgently called.
Adult patients should take care of severe choking, when a person is almost unable to breathe and even loses consciousness. If only the voice is hoarse and coughing against the background of SARS, then it is necessary to start standard treatment, which is suitable in a particular situation.
Degrees of stenosis in croup
There are several conditions, depending on which certain medical care is provided.
- I degree of stenosis is characterized by a slight dry cough. A person may feel relatively normal, but already feels a hoarse voice.
- II-I - rapid breathing, cough becomes more obsessive. Difficulty inhaling, shortness of breath appears.
- III-I degree refers to conditions of moderate severity. Whistles appear during breathing, inhalation is very difficult, the voice practically disappears. During this period, cyanosis may appear on the face. Panic seizes the person, and fear is well expressed on the face.
- IV-I - a serious condition. Urgent treatment of false croup in intensive care is needed. The whistle may disappear. The cough stops. Almost complete suffocation occurs, loss of consciousness and tachycardia may occur.
III and IV degrees of stenosis with false croup in adults and children are considered life-threatening. Such conditions require immediate assistance to the patient by medical professionals. Often these patients are taken to the intensive care unit.
In especially severe cases, a trachiostomy is installed for patients so that air comes directly from the outside whileactions to relieve swelling of the larynx. Then the patient will need a long rehabilitation.
Differential diagnosis of false croup
To find out what type of stenosis has occurred, the patient needs to analyze the symptoms. Differential diagnosis helps to determine false or true croup arose in a patient. To make it easier to deal with the symptoms, they can be arranged in the form of a table.
| Symptoms | False | True |
| cough | barking | not intrusive, deaf |
| beginning of illness | suddenly and quickly | ascending |
| inflammation of the lymph nodes | none, rarely | always there |
| white or gray coating in the throat | no | rich on the tonsils, in the form of a film |
| intoxication | moderate or severe due to SARS | none or gradually increasing |
| suffocation occurs at what time of day | at night with SARS, allergic reactions at any time | does not depend on time of day |
Now it becomes clear that false croup develops very quickly and can be recognized by the characteristic "barking" cough and hoarseness. With diphtheria, all symptoms increase gradually and a characteristic coating appears on the throat.
Only a doctor can make an adequate diagnosis in a hospital setting and with the help of additional laboratoryresearch. If diphtheria is confirmed, the patient must be urgently injected with a special serum.
What to do with false croup in a child?
When faced with the symptoms of this disease for the first time, parents most often go into a "stupor" and panic. This cannot be done. By their behavior, adults frighten the child even more, and his attack may be complicated against the background of fear.
First of all, you need to open the window and give the baby plenty of fresh air. If the stenosis happened in the summer, then the child can be taken out to the balcony or directly to the open window.
In winter, the actions should be the same, only the baby wraps himself in a blanket. At this time, one of the adults should turn on hot water in the bathroom and blow steam. Here you can sit with your child for 10-15 minutes to reduce spasm. Never put your baby in the water.
If the house has a nebulizer (compressor inhaler), then it is advisable to do the procedure using Pulmicort. Doses should be checked with the pediatrician in advance if the child is prone to the formation of croup. In the absence of drugs, you can use the usual sterile saline solution.
Parents who have experienced an attack of stenosis for the first time should immediately call an ambulance, because they may not be able to cope with croup on their own. You also need to call a brigade if the baby's condition does not improve within a few minutes and the symptoms increase, otherwise the complications of false croup cannot be avoided.
Whatwhat to do before the ambulance arrives?
One of the main enemies of false croup is fear. It can be the culprit in the deterioration of the patient's condition. If an attack of stenosis happened to a child, then adults are obliged to calm him down, otherwise the suffocation will increase.
Before the arrival of the brigade, you need to distract the baby as much as possible with conversations and different stories. If the situation allows, then the child should be given warm water to drink and any antihistamine drug (loratadine, l-cet, edem, finistil) should be given to him.
If a spasm of the larynx occurred against the background of an allergic reaction, then the irritant should be urgently removed away from the patient. In especially extreme cases, hormonal preparations are administered to the patient before the ambulance arrives. Most often, prednisolone or dexamethasone acts in their role.
This manipulation can only be done by those people who have already encountered such a situation and know the dosages. For the first time, you should not inject yourself with these drugs and it is better to wait for medical workers.
Adults who are prone to instantaneous development of allergic reactions should always carry the necessary drugs with them. Those around them must be able to use them and provide the relative with the necessary assistance.
Parents should also keep the right medicines in the house for such cases. The first aid kit must always contain some kind of antihistamine drug. Some pediatricians also advise having special hormonal suppositories at home - Rektodelt. They cancome in handy as a last resort, if the child becomes much worse before the arrival of the brigade.
Such candles can be used once a day and no more than 3 days in a row. They are similar in composition to strong hormonal drugs in ampoules, which are administered intravenously or intramuscularly by an ambulance worker in such cases.
Can stenosis be prevented?
There is no single answer to this question. Pediatricians believe that people prone to it with a strong virus or allergy will certainly encounter it. But it is possible to make stenosis not so severe.
If parents have noticed in the afternoon that the child's voice is settling down and he begins to "strange", obsessively cough, then a few recommendations should be followed.
- Give the patient as much warm liquid as possible to drink. Thus, the sputum will become non-viscous and the cough will quickly turn into a productive one.
- In the room where the patient is located, you need to set the temperature no higher than 18 ° and raise the humidity to 60-70%. So the sputum will not be able to thicken much and will begin to move away. The patient will breathe easier.
- The child must be put to sleep in a semi-sitting position. To do this, he needs to substitute several pillows under his back and head.
- Before the evening comes, you can do 2-4 inhalations using a nebulizer with regular saline.
What not to do if you have a cough with false croup?
You can not irrigate the patient's throat with any herbal remedies. This can cause even more spasm of the larynx and lead to suffocation. Also not worth ituse hot steam inhalations with the addition of essential oils and herbs.
It is not necessary to wait for the temperature to rise to 39 ° with laryngitis in a child. It is desirable to start knocking it down already with indicators on the thermometer of 38 ° and above. Thus, the body will not be dehydrated and the cough will become productive faster.
When the voice is hoarse, it is necessary to provide the patient with peace and not let him talk a lot. This recommendation is easier for an adult to fulfill, and a child will have to negotiate or arrange the execution of this item in a playful way.
When the allergic nature of stenosis, you must immediately remove the irritant from the patient or bring him into the room if the cause is a strong smell or pollen. When a bee stings, it is advisable to immediately remove the sting so that as little poison as possible enters the body.
People around are obliged to quickly call an ambulance in this condition of the patient.
