Am J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg | Volume 6, Issue 5 | Case Report | Open Access

Acute Epiglottitis in Adults: A Case Report

Hady T^1*, Ndiamé S², Fakhane Bineta T¹, Ngor N¹, Oumou Amadou D¹, Fédéric K³ and Aliou F⁴

¹Department of Ear Nose and Throat (ENT), Saint-Louis Regional Hospital Centre, Senegal ²Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, Saint-Louis Regional Hospital Centre, Senegal ³Department of Ear Nose and Throat (ENT), University Hospital Centre Maman Elisabeth Domitien de Bimbo, Central African Republic ⁴Department of Ear Nose and Throat (ENT), Luke Hospital, Senegal

^*Correspondance to: Hady T, 

Abstract

For a long period of time, acute epiglottitis has remained a specific pathology in little children. The introduction and globalization of the Haemophilus influenzae type B vaccine has seen a drastic diminishing of its pediatric forms. Its occurrence in adults. On the other hand, its occurrence in adult is increasing with a clinical form and evolution which is noticeably different from child epiglottitis. It is a mainly male pathology which occurs most of the time between 40 to 50 years old. Its symptomatology is less typical and less noisy than that in children, which makes the evolution of the diagnosis, sometimes, difficult. The latter may be confirmed with nasofibroscopy by checking the epiglottis and the adjacent supraglottic structures. A non-invasive treatment is most of the time possible, with a close monitoring in intensive care. In its severe cases, the therapeutic challenge is to keep upper airways free, if needed, after an intubation or tracheotomy. Morality is not much taken into account though a fatal evolution may occur through unpredictable hypoxic cardiac arrest, in case of upper airways’ obstruction.

Keywords:

Adult epiglottitis; Upper airways; Laryngeal dyspnea

Citation:

Hady T, Ndiamé S, Fakhane Bineta T, Ngor N, Oumou Amadou D, Fédéric K, et al. Acute Epiglottitis in Adults: A Case Report. Am J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2023; 6(5):1241..