Laryngospasm Risk Factors in Paediatrics
airway airway emergency airway management hypoxia laryngospasm paediatric paediatric anaesthesia paediatrics shared airway Feb 03, 2025
Know the risks!
Paediatric anaesthesia in general tends to be a little more stressful for us all! 😰 Add in the fact that laryngospasm is far more common in kids than adults, it’s no wonder you and your team might be a little on edge! 😳
To help alleviate some of that stress, we’ve put together this useful guide to cover the risk factors associated with paediatric laryngospasm, so you can spot the potential problems before they even arise:
🧑 Age: The younger the kiddie, the more likely they are to experience laryngospasm. 👶 In children < 6 years old, the incidence rate is around 14%, as opposed to an incidence rate of 3% in kids > 6 years old.
🩺 ASA: The higher the ASA rating for a child, the higher the likelihood of laryngospasm occurring. ⚠️
🌬️ Type of airway used: Laryngospasm is more likely to occur when using an LMA (Laryngeal Mask Airway) in paediatric anaesthesia. 😷
🤧 URTIs: Children who have, or have recently had an upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) are far more likely to develop laryngospasm. 🤒
🔪 Type of surgery:
👂 ENT surgeries like tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy are fairly obvious.
🍽️ Procedures like appendicectomy, thyroidectomy, and those involving dilation of the anal sphincter also increase the risk of laryngospasm.
It’s important to remember that while there are risk factors that increase the likelihood of laryngospasm occurring, it can and does occur in the absence of any risk factors! ⚠️ Stay tuned for our next article which will cover management of laryngospasm in kiddies. 👶💉
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References:
- Birlie Chekol, W., & Yaregal Melesse, D. (2020). Incidence and Associated Factors of Laryngospasm among Pediatric Patients Who Underwent Surgery under General Anesthesia, in University of Gondar Compressive Specialized Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia, 2019: A Cross-Sectional Study. Anesthesiology research and practice, 2020, 3706106. https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/3706106
- Flick RP, Wilder RT, Pieper SF, van Koeverden K, Ellison KM, Marienau ME, Hanson AC, Schroeder DR, Sprung J. Risk factors for laryngospasm in children during general anesthesia. Paediatr Anaesth. 2008 Apr;18(4):289-96. doi: 10.1111/j.1460-9592.2008.02447
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