Association of endotracheal tube repositioning and acute laryngeal lesions during mechanical ventilation in children

The objective of this study is to determine the incidence of post-extubation acute laryngeal lesions in a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) and potential risk factors. Children, aged 28 days to 5 years, admitted to the PICU who required endotracheal intubation for at least 24 h were enrolled. Exclusion criteria were a previous intubation, history of laryngeal disease, current or past tracheostomy, the presence of craniofacial malformations and patients considered on palliative care. All patients underwent flexible fiber-optic laryngoscopy (FFL) not later than 8 h after extubation. A blinded researcher identified and classified laryngeal lesions based on recorded media. 231 children were enrolled between November 2005 and December 2015. At FFL examination, 102 children (44.15%) presented moderate to severe laryngeal lesions. On a multivariable analysis, we found that for each additional day with repositioning of the endotracheal tube, there was an increase of 7.3% (RR 95% CI 1.012-1.137; P = 0.018) on the baseline risk of developing moderate to severe acute laryngeal lesions. Furthermore, for each additional dose of sedation per day of intubation, there was also an increase of 3.5% on the same baseline risk (RR 95% CI 1.001-1.070; P = 0.041). The amount of tube repositioning episodes and the need for extra doses of sedation (as a proxy for possible agitation) were found to be associated with acute laryngeal lesions. Adequate sedation and minimized tube repositioning should be pursued to possibly prevent the development of post-extubation airway compromise.

Influence of dietary and physical activity restriction on pediatric adenotonsillectomy postoperative care in Brazil: a randomized clinical trial

Introduction

Although culturally food and physical activity restriction are part of the routine postoperative care of many Brazilian surgeons, current evidences from other countries support no such recommendations.

Objective

To determine whether dietary and physical restriction effectively lead to a decrease on postoperative complications of adenotonsillectomy in children when compared to no restriction.

Methods

We have designed a randomized clinical trial comparing two intervention: no specific counseling on diet or activity (Group A), and restriction recommendations on diet and physical activities (Group B). Caregivers completed a questionnaire on observed pain, diet and activity patterns, and medications administered. Parameters were compared at the 3rd and at the 7th postoperative day between intervention groups.

Results

We have enrolled a total of 95 patients, 50 in Group A and 45 in Group B. Fourteen patients were lost to follow up. Eventually, 41 patients in group A and 40 in Group B were available for final analysis. Mean age in months (A = 79.5; SD = 33.9/B = 81.1; SD = 32.6) and sex (A = 58% male; B = 64.4% male) were equivalent between groups. Pain, evaluated through visual analog scale in the 3rd (A = 2.0; IQR 1–6/B = 4.5; IQR 2–6; p = 0.18) and in the 7th (A = 1.0; IQR 1.0–4.5/B = 2.0; IQR 1.0–4.7; p = 0.29) postoperative days, was not different between groups, as was the amount of analgesics administered. Dietary and physical activity patterns also showed no statistically significant differences between groups.

Conclusion

Dietary and activity restriction after adenotonsillectomy does not seem to affect patients’ recovery. Such information may impact considerably on the social aspects that involve a tonsillectomy, reducing the working days lost by parents and accelerating the return of children to school.

Accuracy of clinical swallowing evaluation for diagnosis of dysphagia in children with laryngomalacia or glossoptosis

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the accuracy of clinical evaluation of swallowing in a sample of children with laryngomalacia or glossoptosis and describe the prevalence of dysphagia in each of these diseases, as well as characterize the swallow response to speech and language therapy interventions.

STUDY DESIGN

Children aged 1 month to 11 years receiving care at the Department of Otolaryngology, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Brazil, were evaluated in a cross-sectional design. Evaluation of swallowing was performed at two time points by two blinded speech-language pathologists, one responsible for clinical evaluation and the other for videofluoroscopic study. The protocols employed were based on the instruments proposed by DeMatteo et al. (DeMatteo C, Matovich D, Hjartarson A. Comparison of clinical and videofluoroscopic evaluation of children with feeding and swallowing difficulties. Dev Med Child Neurol 2005;47:149-157.).

RESULTS

The study sample consisted of 29 patients: 10 patients with laryngomalacia and 19 patients with glossoptosis. The sensitivity of clinical evaluation did not exceed 50% in any of the evaluations, but specificity reached 100% in some cases, using thickened liquids. The prevalence of dysphagia was 100%, and the use of thickened liquids significantly reduced tracheal aspiration.

CONCLUSIONS

Dysphagia was highly prevalent in this sample. The sensitivity of clinical evaluation to detect laryngeal penetration and tracheal aspiration was low, as the majority of aspiration events were silent. The videofluoroscopic study is important in order to determine a safest method to feed the patient. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2017;52:41-47. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Severity of clinical manifestations and laryngeal exposure difficulty predicted by glossoptosis endoscopic grades in Robin sequence patients

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the performance of two glossoptosis airway obstruction classifications in predicting symptom severity and laryngeal exposure difficulty in Robin Sequence (RS) patients.

SETTING

Public tertiary hospital otolaryngology section (Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre - HCPA).

PATIENTS

All RS patients diagnosed at HCPA from October 2012 to February 2015 were enrolled, a total of 58 individuals. They were classified in isolated RS, RS-Plus and syndromic RS.

INTERVENTION

Patients were submitted to sleep endoscopy and a score was attributed according to Yellon and de Sousa by a blinded researcher. Symptom severity evaluation was performed as defined by Cole classification.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE

Association between endoscopic findings and clinical symptoms severity and laryngeal exposure difficulty.

RESULTS

Twenty four patients were identified as isolated RS (41.4%), 19 patients presented as RS-Plus (32.7%) and 15 patients had well defined diagnosed syndromes (25.9%). Concomitant airway anomalies were found in 18 patients (31%). Specifically 17.4% in isolated RS, 55.6% in RS- Plus and 28.6% in the syndromic group had such anomalies (P = 0,03). Probability of presenting severe clinical symptoms as graded by Cole was higher in grade 3 Yellon classification (68.4%, P = 0.012) and in moderate and severe de Sousa classification (61.5% and 62.5%, respectively, P = 0.015) than in milder grades of obstruction. This findings were considered significant even after controlling for patient age. Laryngeal exposure difficulty was correlated with de Sousa and Yellon (Rho = 0,41 and Rho = 0,43, respectively; P < 0,05).

CONCLUSION

Patients with higher degrees of obstruction in sleep endoscopy had a higher probability of presenting a more severe clinical manifestation and a more difficult laryngeal exposure. Since the number of patients included in this study was small for subgroup analyses, it is not clear if this association is restricted to a specific group of RS.

Tracheostomy in children: a ten-year experience from a tertiary center in southern Brazil

INTRODUCTION

Children may require tracheostomy due to many different health conditions. Over the last 40 years, indications of tracheostomy have endorsed substantial modifications.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate pediatric patients warranted tracheostomy at our Hospital, in regard to their indications, associated comorbidities, complications and decannulation rates.

METHODS

Retrospective study concerning patients under 18 years of age undergoing tracheostomy in a tertiary health care center, from January 2006 to November 2015.

RESULTS

123 children required a tracheostomy after ENT evaluation during the study period. A proportion of 63% was male, and 56% was under one year of age. Glossoptosis was the most common indication (30%), followed by subglottic stenosis (16%) and pharyngomalacia (11%). The mortality rate was 31%. By the end of this review, 35 children (28.4%) had been decannulated, and the fewer the number of comorbidities, the greater the decannulation rate (0.77±0.84 vs. 1.7±1.00 comorbidities; p<0.001).

CONCLUSION

Tracheostomy in children is a relatively frequent procedure at our hospital. The most common indications are glossoptosis and subglottic stenosis. A high mortality rate was found, potentially substantiated by the high number of critical care patients with chronic neurological conditions in this cohort. Our decannulation rate is slightly below other series, probably because of the greater amount of patients with comorbidities.

Post-intubation acute laryngeal injuries in infants and children: A new classification system

OBJECTIVE

To compare the Classification of Acute Laryngeal Injuries (CALI) with other classifications to determine which of these offers the greatest sensitivity and specificity in predicting the development of subglottic stenosis.

METHODS

All children intubated for the first time in the pediatric intensive care unit were included and subjected to flexible fiber-optic laryngoscopy (FFL) within 8 h of extubation. Their injuries were categorized using the CALI, as well as adapted classifications from Lindholm, Colice and Benjamin. The children were followed up to determine who developed subglottic stenosis.

RESULTS

This study included 194 children, with a median age of 2.67 months. The sensitivity and specificity of the CALI were 90% and 73%, respectively. The CALI showed greater specificity than the adapted classifications from Colice and Benjamin (p < 0.001 for both), and greater sensitivity than the adapted classification from Lindholm (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Based on the CALI, 90% of children who developed subglottic stenosis had moderate to severe injuries on the initial FFL. The CALI includes all injury types described by Benjamin, as well as a proposed severity scale for these lesions, and was predictive of the development of chronic laryngeal injury.

Glossoptosis

Glossoptosis causes varying degrees of airway obstruction and feeding difficulties. It can occur as a consequence of micrognathia in Robin Sequence, but can also occur in children with hypotonia. Despite several attempts to classify severity in Robin Sequence patients, taking into account symptoms, presence of concomitant syndromes or malformations, and even endoscopic findings, there is still no general consensus. Furthermore, several management recommendations have been reported without an agreement about indications, efficacy, or risks of each treatment option. The present article provides an overview of clinical presentation, diagnosis, management, and prognosis of patients with glossoptosis.

Dermoid of the nasopharynx causing neonatal respiratory distress

The dermoid is a rare and benign malformation of bigerminal origin. It is seen frequently in the neonatal period, and the clinical presentation depends on the site and on the size of the lesion, and the classical clinical picture is of a tumor derived from the naso- or oropharynx, leading to respiratory distress and/or feeding disorders. A female newborn was born cyanotic requiring intubation. The oroscopy revealed a large smooth mass. Transoral surgery was performed with successful extubation. Seven months after, there are no signs of recurrence of the lesion. This report adds another case of this rare pathology that can be life-threatening condition in the neonate. It emphasizes the importance of dermoid in the differential diagnosis of the naso- or oropharyngeal lesions, especially in neonates.

Retrospective study of a series of choanal atresia patients

Introduction Although it has been more than 250 years since the first description of choanal atresia (CA), there are still doubts about this abnormality. The differences between unilateral and bilateral forms are seldom discussed.

Objectives Aggregate data from patients diagnosed with CA, grouping patients with unilateral and bilateral forms.

Methods Retrospective study.

Results Eighteen patients were included: 12 (66.6%) presented bilateral atresia, of which 77.8% were mixed bony-membranous type and 22.2% were pure bony type. From the 12 patients with bilateral atresia, 10 presented related malformations, 3 of whom had CHARGE syndrome (coloboma, heart defects, choanal atresia, retardation of growth and development, genitourinary problems, ear abnormalities). From the remaining 6 patients with unilateral atresia, only 2 showed malformations, 1 renal and 1 cardiac. All patients with unilateral atresia needed only 1 surgical procedure, and patients with the bilateral form needed a median of 2.85 interventions (p = 0.003). The median age of surgical procedure in the unilateral group was 6 years, ranging from 6 months to 18 years, and in the bilateral group was 25 days, ranging from 6 days to 6 years (p = 0.003). The median interval between diagnosis and surgery was 9 months in the unilateral group, ranging from 1 month to 18 years, and in the bilateral group was 1 day, ranging from 1 day to 2 months (p = 0.001).

Discussion and Conclusions Success rates with the endoscopic approach vary from 62 to 100%. Nonetheless, most of these reports present results without considering the number of compromised sides. In our opinion, unilateral and bilateral cases involve distinct patients (taking into account the related malformations), have diverging clinical presentations, and show discrepant restenosis rates and therefore could be considered in different groups of analysis.

Single-stage laryngotracheal reconstruction for the treatment of subglottic stenosis in children

Introduction: In recent decades, airway reconstruction has become the treatment of choice for subglottic stenosis (SGS) in children, which is performed in either single or multiple stages. However, there is evidence in the literature that single-stage surgery is more effective.

Objective: To evaluate the success rate of single-stage laryngotracheoplasty (LTP) and cricotracheal resection (CTR) in patients that were treated in our hospital.

Materials and Method: We performed a retrospective study of children undergoing laryngotracheal reconstruction.

Results: Twenty-four children were included. The etiology of SGS was postintubation in 91.6% and congenital in 8.3%. One patient (4.2%) had grade 4 SGS, 17 (70.8%) presented with grade 3 SGS, 4 (16.6%) had grade 2 SGS, 1 (4.2%) had grade 3 SGS associated with glottic stenosis, and 1 (4.2%) had grade 3 SGS with tracheal stenosis. We performed 26 LTPs and 3 CTRs. Decannulation rates were 66% in the CTR procedures and 85.7% in the LTP procedures; the overall decannulation rate was 83.3%. All children presented with fever in the postoperative period, but were afebrile after the tube was removed.

Conclusion: Our series showed a decannulation rate of 83.3%.

Preoccupation with death as predictor of psychological distress in patients with haematologic malignancies

The purpose of the present study was to identify preoccupation with death in relation to levels of psychological distress in patients with haematologic malignancies. One hundred and two inpatients with haematologic malignancies, treated with curative intent, and thirty-three control inpatients with benign dysfunction participated in the present study. Psychological distress was measured with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the Freiburg Questionnaire of Coping with Illness. Preoccupation with death was assessed with the Subjective Estimation of Sickness and Death Scale. Patients with haematologic malignancies had significantly more preoccupation with death than the control group. In patients with haematologic malignancies preoccupation with death was related to depressive coping style as well as symptoms of depression and anxiety; regression analyses reveal that the diagnosis of haematologic malignancy leads to stronger subjective feelings of being close to death, which in turn leads to more psychological distress. To the best of our knowledge this is the first study that quantitatively shows the existence of preoccupation with death in patients with haematologic malignancies and its association with psychological distress. Our findings indicate that patients who are treated with a curative regime need psychological intervention focusing on death-related fear in order to prevent severe emotional distress.

Histologic description of acquired cholesteatomas: comparison between children and adults

Cholesteatoma is constituted of matrix, perimatrix and cystic content. Some authors affirm that, in children, its clinical behavior is more aggressive of the than in adults.

Aims

Histologic compared cholesteatomas of children and adults.

Methodology

74 cholesteatomas been analyzed, being 35 of pediatrics patients (<18 years). The average number of cellular layers and hyperplasia in the matrix had been evaluated; thickness, delimitante epithelium, fibrosis, inflammation and granuloma in the perimatrix. The analysis statistics was carried through with program SPSS 10,0, using the coefficients of Pearson and Spearman, test of qui-square and t test. The number of cellular layers in the matrix was of 8,2±4,2. The hyperplasia appears in 17%, fibrosis in 65%, granuloma in 12% and the delimitante epithelium in 21%. The perimatrix presented a medium one of 80 micrometers (37 the 232), minimum value zero and maximum value 1.926. The histological degree of inflammation was considered of moderate the accented one in 60%. When applying the coefficient of Spearman enters the inflammation degree and average of cellular layers of the matrix with the variables of the measure of thickness of the perimatrix we find correlations, significant, with moderate magnitudes of the great ones (rs=0,5 and P<0,0001).

Conclusion

Adults colesteatomas of and child had not been identified to morphologic differences between. We find correlation enters the intensity of the inflammation and of the average of cellular layers of the matrix with the thickness of the perimatrix, what it can predict its aggressiveness, more studies are necessary to define the paper of this finding in pathogenesis of cholesteatoma.

Is there a reason for performing frontal sinus trephination at 1 cm from midline? A tomographic study

The complex anatomy of the frontoethmoidal recess, as well as its anatomical relationship with the vital adjacent structures in the region explain the reason for considerable surgical care to protect these structures and minimize complications related to healing. Trephination is an accepted procedure to access the frontal sinus.

Aim

Discuss the best location for performing frontal sinus trephination.

Methods

Measuring sinus frontal depth at 3 points equidistant to the midline (crista galli) through the axial tomographic sections.

Results

We measured 138 frontal sinus (69 patients). Frontal sinus depth at 0,5 cm was statistically larger than 1 cm and 1,5 cm, as well as the 1 cm trephine point was significantly larger than 1,5 cm (12,22±4,25 vs 11,78±4,65 p<0,05; 12,22±4,25 vs 10,78±5,98 p<0,001; 11,78±4,65 vs 10,78±5,98 p<0,05). The trephine set used (maximum depth of penetration of 0,7 cm) is safe to be applied in approximately 80% of the patients.

Conclusion

Analizing the results, the trephination may be performed at variable points of the frontalsinus, but the distance of 1 cm from midline appears to be safer and shows better aestethic results.