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A comparison of endotracheal intubation and tracheostomy in the management of acute epiglottitis in children in the tropics
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 June 2007
Abstract
In children, acute epiglottitis is rapidly fatal due to airway obstruction by swollen supraglottic structures, but the oedema is short-lived. Therefore, in many centres short-term endotracheal intubation has replaced tracheostomy as the method of choice for relieving the obstruction.
We have tried both methods in 15 children over a period of three years under conditions of limited material and human resources. Tracheostomy was found to be safer. It was concluded that it is better to have a live healthy child with a small scar in the neck than a dead child without a scar.
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