Abstract
Acute airway obstruction in infants and children may be caused by congenital or developmental disorders, infection, inflammation, foreign body aspiration or ingestion, mass lesions, vascular abnormalities, and tracheomalacia. Airway disorders in children result in more severe symptomatology than in adults because of the smaller size and greater pliability of the pediatric airway. Clinical signs and symptoms are useful in localizing the anatomic site of abnormality. Diagnostic imaging, including radiography, fluoroscopy, sonography, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging, plays an important role in the evaluation of pediatric airway disorders. This essay reviews the imaging approach to the various disorders resulting in acute airway obstruction in children.
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Phillips, P.M., Sivit, C.J. Nontraumatic neck and airway emergencies in children. Emergency Radiology 5, 153–161 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02749101
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02749101