Abstract
Acute epiglottitis is rare in children in Japan, but recently the number of cases reported is increasing. Because pediatric acute epiglottitis can be lethal, quick diagnosis and airway management are indispensable for successful treatment of this disease. We report the case of a 4-year-old boy. His symptoms had gotten worse within half a day, and he was suffering from a sore throat and inspiratory wheeze when brought to our hospital. He had severe dyspnea and drool but did not have a barking cough. We performed laryngeal X-ray and laryngeal fiberscopy after admission and diagnosed his illness as acute epiglottitis. Endotracheal intubation was immediately performed to secure his airway, and intravenous administration of antibiotics and steroid was started. The level of laryngeal edema inducing the airway obstruction was ameliorated by drug therapy, and the patient was successfully extubated at 2 days and left our hospital 6 days later.Haemophilus influenzae was detected in his blood culture.
