The birth of a child is happiness for all parents, who has been waiting for nine months. During pregnancy, a woman periodically visits a gynecologist for examinations and undergoes additional tests. All this is necessary in order to be sure of the full development of the fetus inside the womb. Unfortunately, some pathologies begin to appear almost immediately after childbirth. Among them is stridor breathing. What is it?
General information
Newborn babies sleep so quietly that some mothers feel as if they are not breathing at all. Justified anxiety of parents causes noisy breathing. This condition is most often a sign of congenital stridor. This is a pathology in which there is a narrowing of the airways. In some cases, it poses a serious danger to the life of the child.
Stridor, or stridor breathing, is a pathological noisy breathing caused by congenital disorders in the structure of the larynx or trachea. It is usually aggravated by coughing or crying. Treatment of congenital stridor,due to reasons of a functional nature, is usually not required. As the cartilage of the larynx grows, the pathology disappears. If it is due to organic factors, major surgery may be required.
Note that this problem is diagnosed mainly in newborns. Stridor breathing in adults is extremely rare.
Causes of occurrence
Newborn babies have very soft cartilage. With this pathology, they are so elastic that they look like plasticine. During the next breath, the cartilages are connected, vibration occurs. This is due to the fact that negative pressure occurs in the bronchi. These kinds of things usually go away. The pharynx gradually expands, the cartilage becomes harder, and noisy breathing disappears.
For a baby who has just been born, absolutely all processes are new. In this matter, breathing is no exception. Since the body has not yet had time to adapt to life outside the womb, the central nerves lead to a slight tension during each breath. When closing the glottis, air breaks through it with a whistle. This picture is usually observed in children with increased neuro-reflex excitability.
Stridor breathing occurs with congenital weakness of the muscles in the glottis area. Such an anomaly cannot be prevented. You just need to be patient and wait out this period. Breathing will return to normal by the time the child is one and a half years old.
Bin some cases, the cause of the development of pathology is a cyst of the larynx. Stridor occurs when a mass grows in the airway. Cysts can be single or multiple. If the formations appear only on the vocal folds, the pathology is manifested by hoarseness.
If a newborn requires intubation, there is always a certain risk that it will not pass without consequences. Stridorous breathing after extubation is diagnosed very often. In this case, it is necessary to strictly follow all the doctor's instructions during the rehabilitation in order to reduce the manifestation of the characteristic symptoms of the problem.
Signs of congenital stridor
Stridoric breathing in infants appears soon after birth and increases markedly in the first weeks of his life. Parents pay attention to a loud sound heard at a distance, which occurs every time a jet of air breaks through the narrowed larynx. The noise can be hissing or whistling, sonorous and deaf, reminiscent of the cooing of pigeons. During sleep or when the child is at rest, its intensity usually decreases, and when coughing or crying it increases.
With effective treatment and following the doctor's instructions, as a rule, children with this pathology grow normally and live a full life.
Stages of development of pathology
Depending on the degree of impairment, stridor in children is divided into four main stages.
- Compensated. Usually does not require serious treatment, the body normalizes its work on its own.
- Border-compensated. The constant supervision of a specialist is necessary.
- Decompensated. Treatment is required.
- The fourth stage is practically incompatible with life. In this case, the child needs immediate resuscitation and the help of surgeons.
Diagnosis: how to identify stridor?
The causes of the development of this pathology can be identified only after examining the child by a pediatrician, pulmonologist and neurologist. During diagnostic measures, doctors evaluate the general condition of the newborn, heart rate, skin color, participation of muscles directly in the act of breathing.
Microlaryngoscopy is mandatory. Additionally, chest X-ray, CT scan, ultrasound of the larynx, bronchography may be prescribed.
If a congenital goiter is suspected, an examination by an endocrinologist is necessary. In this case, an ultrasound of the thyroid gland is usually prescribed, as well as a series of tests for the hormones TSH, T4 and T3.
Acute attack of stridor. What should parents do?
As noted above, in most cases, the pathology proceeds without serious complications, which allows the child to fully grow and develop. However, sometimes acute attacks of stridor occur. They can be caused by diseases of an infectious nature or inflammatory processes. Usually, stridor breathing in infants is accompanied only by a characteristic sound. Duringpneumonia or bronchitis, the clinical picture deteriorates sharply. The child develops shortness of breath, the condition is aggravated by constant crying. What should parents do?
First of all, you should try to calm the baby. It is necessary to call a brigade of medical workers. At this time, you can ventilate the child's room, because the cold air somewhat relieves the swelling of the respiratory tract.
Stridor breathing: treatment and prevention
Pathology in the compensated and borderline-compensated stage of development usually does not require serious treatment. In most cases, the symptoms of pathology decrease by six months of age, and by two years they disappear completely. Experts recommend only regular follow-up with an otolaryngologist.
Surgical intervention is required in some cases. There are several options for solving this problem: laser incisions on the epiglottis, dissection of the aryepiglottic folds, or removal of part of the arytenoid cartilage. During acute attacks, immediate hospitalization is recommended. In the hospital, newborns with a diagnosis of stridor breathing are prescribed treatment with hormonal drugs, bronchodilators. Tracheotomy is recommended when a critical condition develops.
Prediction and prevention of complications
As the child grows, the cartilage in the larynx becomes harder and the lumen becomes wider, so stridor can regress by 2-3 years without medical help. At this time, parents should take careabout the prevention of various diseases, to provide the baby with good nutrition, to create the most favorable psychological environment. It is very important that the child breathes well-moistened air, long walks in the street are useful.
If stridor breathing appeared due to organic causes, their timely elimination is required. When joining the pathology of a respiratory infection and the development of respiratory failure, in most cases the prognosis is not the most favorable.
Helpful tips for parents
- First of all, parents are advised to remember all accompanying pathology symptoms. This will help the future doctor to see the full clinical picture and take the necessary measures for treatment.
- Don't put off seeing a specialist. The sooner you find out the cause that caused stridor breathing in a newborn, the sooner you calm down and proceed with the necessary actions.
- As a rule, doctors advise in such a situation to wait a while until the child grows up. The thing is that serious treatment is not always required.
- After confirming the final diagnosis, parents should ensure that the child does not catch a cold, eat well. These simple methods can boost immunity.
- Most importantly, there is no need to panic, because the parents' anxiety is transferred to the child.
Stridor breathing is characteristic of many pathological conditions. This issue should not be ignoredit is better to find out the cause of its occurrence in a timely manner, and then undergo a course of treatment.
We hope that the information presented in this article will be really useful for you. Stay he althy!
