Office-based lower airway endoscopy in pediatric patients. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2003 Aug;129(8):847-53
Date
08/20/2003Pubmed ID
12925343DOI
10.1001/archotol.129.8.847Scopus ID
2-s2.0-0042090617 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 21 CitationsAbstract
BACKGROUND: Office-based evaluation of the lower airway in adults with only topical anesthetics has been well documented. This study was performed to assess the feasibility of performing office-based lower airway endoscopy in a pediatric population.
DESIGN: One hundred five consecutive pediatric patients requiring flexible laryngoscopy were studied. All received only a topical anesthetic-decongestant applied nasally. After flexible laryngoscopy, the endoscope was passed below the vocal folds to visualize the subglottis, trachea, and carina. All evaluations were videotaped for later review.
SETTING: Academic pediatric otolaryngology practice.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: All 105 patients were studied for complications and agreement between office endoscopy and operative endoscopy when necessary (performed in 20 patients). A subset of 24 consecutive patients were studied for ease of performing the lower airway evaluation, rated on a 3-point scale: 1, unable to perform; 2, performed with some difficulty; and 3, performed without difficulty. The ability to view the subglottis, trachea, and carina were also rated on a 3-point scale.
RESULTS: There were no complications for any of the procedures. Office endoscopy correlated with operative endoscopy in all cases. In the subset of 24 patients, the mean score for ease of endoscopy was 2.83. The mean scores for visualizing the lower airway were 2.91 for the subglottis, 2.80 for the trachea, and 2.24 for the carina.
CONCLUSION: With the use of only topical anesthesia, flexible endoscopy of the lower airway in children can be performed in the office setting and can be used effectively to evaluate abnormalities of the lower airway.
Author List
Lindstrom DR 3rd, Book DT, Conley SF, Flanary VA, Kerschner JEAuthors
Valerie A. Flanary MD Director, Professor in the Otolaryngology department at Medical College of WisconsinJoseph E. Kerschner MD Provost, Executive Vice President, Dean, Professor in the School of Medicine Administration department at Medical College of Wisconsin
MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
Chi-Square DistributionChild
Feasibility Studies
Female
Fiber Optic Technology
Humans
Laryngeal Diseases
Laryngoscopy
Male
Office Visits
Tracheal Diseases
Videotape Recording
