Cold or anxious after the throat will be painful, appear “sore throat”, most people think of is a cold, generally can go to the drugstore to buy cold medicine to eat, he is dealing with the past. Eldest Brother Zhang dealt with this once, thought it was just a common throat inflammation, unexpectedly almost killed him.

Think about this matter, throat inflammation Zhang Dage are dying: first the throat pain, then the breath symptoms, throat suppress, slurred speech, as a mouth with a thing, feeling his throat like is blocked, have the feeling of suffocation, and more and more severe, hurriedly to the hospital otolaryngology doctor.

The doctor examined him immediately. Under a laryngoscope, the epiglottis, which should have been as thin as a small leaf, had swollen into a walnut-sized ball, tightly blocking the airway, and was diagnosed as acute epiglottis. Due to the rapid progress of the disease, before there was time to treat, he had developed a black lip, life is hanging by a hair. The doctor saved his life by performing an emergency tracheotomy based on his clinical experience.

Epiglottis, commander of the “crossroads” of trachea and esophagus

The epiglottis is one of the blade-shaped cartilage in the throat that covers the windpipe when we swallow food, allowing it to pass into the esophagus and prevent coughing. At the crossroads of the trachea and esophagus, the epiglottis directs the two to go their own way, and if this “commander” happens unexpectedly (such as acute inflammation), the patient will have many unexpected troubles, even life-threatening.

Acute epiglottitis, very “dangerous” disease

Acute epiglottitis, also known as supraglottic laryngitis, is a special acute inflammatory lesion mainly involving the epiglottis of the supraglottic area of the larynx and its surrounding tissues (including the epiglottis valley and the epiglottis folds of the arytenoid, etc.), characterized by high epiglottis edema. Infection is the most common cause of the disease. Acute epiglottitis can come on all year round, with high incidence in winter. Acute epiglottitis starts in a sudden, the patient has fever and chills, the body temperature can be as high as 39℃, the patient’s speech is unclear, just like content in the mouth, throat burning pain, swallowing difficulty.

Acute epiglottitis progress rapidly, most of the patients after the prompt treatment can get healed, a small number of patients in disaster, quickly suffocation, mortality is higher, acute epiglottitis is dangerous, because the epiglottis submucosal tissue loose, extremely easy oedema, can be enlarged during the first few hours to several times normal epiglottis, to block the glottis, laryngeal obstruction, asphyxia.

Laryngoscope examination can see epiglottis tongue hyperemia, swelling, such as hemispherical, or even pus. Not timely rescue, will indeed die. Many patients undergo a tracheotomy to relieve asphyxiation, indicating a dangerous condition.

Acute epiglottitis differs from common sore throat

Look in a lot of people, sore throat swelling that is often a thing, so, common sore throat swelling and acute epiglottitis, the patient is not the same on the symptom? Compared with ordinary sore throat, patients suffering from acute epiglottitis throat pain is very severe, to the point of unbearable, more serious is a stuffy throat, slurred speech, as if there is something in the mouth, gasping symptoms, swallowing and breathing are difficult.

Acute epiglottitis must be treated early

Treatment of acute epiglottitis to early detection early medication, timely application of sufficient antibiotics, in order to maintain respiratory patency. If laryngeal edema occurs, it is a great threat to the patency of the respiratory tract. Hormones can be used to detumescence, and large doses of hormones should be used, because hormones have non-specific anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, anti-shock and other effects at the same time, so the combination of hormones and antibiotics can achieve good results. Eating difficulties should be intravenous fluid supplement, supplemented by calcium, anti-allergy drugs, attention to water, electrolyte balance. If there is local abscess formation should be cut to discharge pus, is conducive to rapid infection control. When treating acute epiglottitis, special attention should be paid to relieving dyspnea, providing oxygen in time or preparing emergency tracheotomy at any time to avoid asphyxia.