Management of Airway Obstruction and Stridor in Pediatric Patients

• Congenital conditions that cause airway obstruction (eg, laryngomalacia, subglottic stenosis, vascular rings, and subglottic cysts) may be present at birth but may not initially manifest as stridor, resulting in delayed presentation.
• Children should be kept calm to prevent turbulent airflow and the precipitation of airway compromise; therefore, unnecessary procedures should be avoided.
• While croup should be diagnosed clinically and does not require an x-ray for diagnosis, a soft-tissue neck x-ray may be obtained to help assess for other possible diagnoses (eg, epiglottitis, neck mass, retropharyngeal abscess, or foreign body).

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