Ceskoslovenská pediatrie
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Ceskoslovenská pediatrie · May 1991
[Sonographic analysis of postextubation stridor in neonates and children with low birth weight after long-term artificial ventilation].
In a group of 23 neonates with mean birth weights of 1470 g (range 1200-3980 g) who had orotracheal intubation for an average period of 12.6 days (range 5-96 days) sonagraphic frequency analysis of 86 stridors 1-3 hours after intubation was performed. According to the results of the frequency analysis more than 97.6% of the stridors are supraglottic (84 of 86 analyzed stridors). ⋯ The finding is surprising and does not confirm the widely accepted view that neonates after extubation are threatened with oedema of the larynx or stricture at this or a distal level. As elective postextubation laryngoscopy is controversial, acoustic frequency analysis of stridor after extubation is a suitable alternate method in investigations of the clinical condition of the infant and serves the clinician as an indication on the level of stenosis of the airways.