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    Spasmodic Croup

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    Natasha Amalda
    Spasmodic croup is a condition in young children characterized by mild inflammation of the larynx lining along with severe spasming of the laryngeal muscles. This spasming causes the hallmark symptoms of the disease and is due to children's heightened reflex sensitivity. Spasmodic croup most commonly occurs in children from 6 months to 3 years old and is triggered by exposure to cold, dampness, overeating, or digestion issues. Symptoms include a barking cough and difficulty breathing that worsens at night over 2-4 hours before resolving without treatment. While similar to viral croup, spasmodic croup typically develops suddenly without other illness symptoms and may represent an allergic reaction rather than direct

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    Spasmodic Croup

    Uploaded by

    Natasha Amalda
    113 views1 page
    Spasmodic croup is a condition in young children characterized by mild inflammation of the larynx lining along with severe spasming of the laryngeal muscles. This spasming causes the hallmark symptoms of the disease and is due to children's heightened reflex sensitivity. Spasmodic croup most commonly occurs in children from 6 months to 3 years old and is triggered by exposure to cold, dampness, overeating, or digestion issues. Symptoms include a barking cough and difficulty breathing that worsens at night over 2-4 hours before resolving without treatment. While similar to viral croup, spasmodic croup typically develops suddenly without other illness symptoms and may represent an allergic reaction rather than direct

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    Spasmodic Croup

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    Spasmodic croup is a condition in young children characterized by mild inflammation of the larynx lining along with severe spasming of the laryngeal muscles. This spasming causes the hallmark symptoms of the disease and is due to children's heightened reflex sensitivity. Spasmodic croup most commonly occurs in children from 6 months to 3 years old and is triggered by exposure to cold, dampness, overeating, or digestion issues. Symptoms include a barking cough and difficulty breathing that worsens at night over 2-4 hours before resolving without treatment. While similar to viral croup, spasmodic croup typically develops suddenly without other illness symptoms and may represent an allergic reaction rather than direct

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    113 views1 page

    Spasmodic Croup

    Uploaded by

    Natasha Amalda
    Spasmodic croup is a condition in young children characterized by mild inflammation of the larynx lining along with severe spasming of the laryngeal muscles. This spasming causes the hallmark symptoms of the disease and is due to children's heightened reflex sensitivity. Spasmodic croup most commonly occurs in children from 6 months to 3 years old and is triggered by exposure to cold, dampness, overeating, or digestion issues. Symptoms include a barking cough and difficulty breathing that worsens at night over 2-4 hours before resolving without treatment. While similar to viral croup, spasmodic croup typically develops suddenly without other illness symptoms and may represent an allergic reaction rather than direct

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 1

    Spasmodic Croup

    In this condition there is a mild grade of


    catarrh of the lining mucous membrane of
    the larynx, accompanied by marked spasm of
    the laryngeal muscles. This spasm is an
    outcome of the excessive reflex nervous
    irritability common to young children and gives
    rise to the characteristic features of the disease.
    Epidemiology
    Spasmodic croup may occur during the first
    six months of life, but is most frequent from
    this age up to the third year, when the
    tendency gradually diminishes until after the
    fifth year attacks are unusual. While it occurs in
    both healthy and delicate subjects, some
    children possess a peculiar susceptibility, in
    which heredity seems to play a part. The
    exciting causes are exposure to cold, dampness,
    and high winds, overeating, and indigestion and
    constipation.
    Sign and Symptom
    Suddenly or be preceded by hoarseness
    or by the symptoms of nasal catarrh.
    The precedent symptoms usually appear
    about midday and gradually increase. As
    evening approaches an occasional
    hollow, barking, evidently painful cough
    is noticed and the voice is very hoarse;
    toward midnight the cough becomes
    more brazen and more frequent and the
    breathing difficult.
    In very mild cases these disturbances are
    not severe enough to wake the child, but
    when the laryngeal spasm is marked,
    respiration becomes very labored,
    especially the inspiratory movement,
    which is attended by a hissing sound and
    by visible retraction of the soft parts
    above and below the breast-bone.
    If untreated such an attack slowly
    disappears, and in the course of three or
    more hours the child, exhausted, drops
    to sleep.
    Comparison of Viral Croup and Spasmodic Croup

    Characteristic Viral croup Spasmodic croup
    Age Six months to six years (most
    common)
    Six months to six years (most
    common)
    Prodrome Common Uncommon
    Stridor, barking cough Common Common
    Fever Common Uncommon
    Wheezing Common Common
    Duration Two to seven days Two to four hours
    Family history No Yes
    Predisposition to
    asthma
    Uncommon Common
    Adapted with permission from DeSoto H. Epiglottitis and croup in airway obstruction in
    children. Anesthesiol Clin North Am 1998;16:860.
    Some authors have tried to differentiate spasmodic croup from viral croup, but often the distinction is not
    possible. Classically, patients with spasmodic croup develop symptoms suddenly, without a clearly
    identifiable viral prodrome. Histologic evaluation of the subglottic tissues in patients with spasmodic
    croup shows noninflammatory edema.6 Although associated with the same viruses that cause croup,
    spasmodic croup tends to recur and may represent an allergic reaction to viral antigens instead of a direct
    infection.

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