What are the key points of self-diagnosis of acute laryngitis in children?

What are the key points of self-diagnosis of acute laryngitis in children? Acute laryngitis in children is very harmful. It occurs in winter and spring, often secondary to upper respiratory tract infection. It often occurs in children aged 6 months to 3 years old. It is easy to cause laryngeal obstruction and breathing difficulties. It is necessary to master the method of self-diagnosis to detect it early. So, what are the key points of self-diagnosis of acute laryngitis in children?

Self-diagnosis of acute laryngitis in children is mainly based on clinical manifestations. There may be no precursor symptoms before the onset of the disease. Many children develop the disease in the middle of the night. At first, they just have bursts of coughing, which sound like breaking bamboo, a "hollow" sound (or dog barking), snoring in the throat, and it seems that there is phlegm that cannot be coughed up, and gradually difficulty breathing occurs. At this time, the child is irritable, with blue lips and sweating profusely. If the condition worsens further, symptoms such as incontinence, suffocation, and coma will appear.

Severe cases may present with inspiratory laryngeal stridor, dyspnea during inspiration, inward collapse of the suprasternal fossa, supraclavicular fossa, intercostal space and upper abdominal soft tissue during inspiration, and other laryngeal obstruction symptoms. Severe cases may present with cyanosis or pallor around the mouth and nose, cyanosis of the fingers and toes, varying degrees of restlessness, and sweating. If not treated in time, the patient may become pale, have weak breathing, circulatory and respiratory failure, coma, convulsions, and even death.

Physical examination can reveal congestion in the throat, swelling of the false vocal cords, and fusiform swelling of the subglottic mucosa. Depending on the severity of the lesion, laryngeal striae and inspiratory dyspnea may sometimes occur, and laryngeal conduction sounds or tubular breath sounds may be heard by auscultation of the lungs.

Therefore, if parents find that their children have symptoms such as coughing and runny nose, and soon develop a coughing sound, they should not think that it is just a cold. They should take their children to the hospital for examination and treatment, otherwise the children may develop laryngeal spasm and laryngeal obstruction in a very short time. Acute laryngitis can be effectively controlled within a few hours as long as it is discovered and treated in time, and most cases will improve significantly within 1-2 days.