Abstract
We report a patient with acute epiglottitis who developed cyanosis and respiratory arrest immediately after admission, and underwent emergency surgery in his hospital room. In addition, 22 patients with acute epiglottitis treated at our department during the past 2 years are reviewed.
The patient was a 35-year-old male. At the initial examination, marked redness and swelling were observed in the lingual and laryngeal surfaces of the epiglottis. He suddenly developed severe dyspnea and cyanosis in his hospital room. Since endotracheal intubation failed, emergency tracheostomy was immediately performed in that room. He stopped breathing and lost consciousness during local anesthesia but recovered consciousness immediately after the tracheostomy. The interval between the appearance of odynophagia and cessation of breathing was 5 hours. He was treated by intravenous administration of hydrocortisone (500 mg). Antibiotics, CTM, CFS, and DKB, were administered intravenously and intramuscularly. Redness and swelling of the epiglottis subsided 4 days after the tracheostomy, and the patient was discharged after 1 month.
Twenty two patients with acute epiglottitis were treated at our department between February, 1984 and February, 1986. The mean age of the patients was 37.8 years, and tne number of males was greater than that of females. Symptoms appeared during the period between September and November in more than half the patients. At the initial examination, no abnormality was detected in the middle pharynx in 16 patients. Seven patients had abscess type lesions and the remaining 15 had edematous type lesions.
