[peds77]

Help please....i need info on trachealmalasia....my son was born with a wicked, barky cough..sounds like a smokers cough and when he cries hard its raspy and barky too, whenever anyone hears it they say oh my god sounds like croupe....so im a peds nurse and of course a million diagnosis go through my mind every time I hear it but his lungs are clear, resp wnl no tachypnea, no retractions no wheeze he eats great has gained beautifully and is the picture of health...which it what my pediatrician reassures me everytime we talk, but the nurse in me obsesses over whether or not it could be something serious...... a friend who is a nicu rn suggested TM but every kid i know with it is really symptomatic and sick some with trachs..and my son is totally healthy...so my pediatricain said yeah maybe he does have a "little TM" but he'll grow out of it don't worry about it whatever it is its not serious..does this sound right to you guys? any feedback would be greatly appreciated!!!!

[KellieNurse06]

I am so sorry to hear this! My daughter has this.....it started at 7 years old and she had her tonsils & adenoids removed which helped for a year. It all started again though and she ended up getting a permanent trach in. They did a procedure where they seperate the trachea & esophagus and pull the trachea out and permanently attach it to the skin so it can never close. It was done because all the muscles in her airway became very floppy due to her cerebral palsy...so whenever she would inhale her throat would kind of close a bit , which would send her into a panic with the arms flailing because she felt like she was suffocating. And she would have that loud breathing like a snoring sound almost...it is very scary for the child and also to see them going through it.
I was petrified of the trach but now that I am used to it, it is a breeze...hey if anything happens you have the airway right there......makes things 100x easier....not that you want to have your child have a trach but it beats the alternative ..........it does sound like this may be occurring.....maybe take your child to a good ent who specializes in trachealmalasia???? I don't know where you are from but if it's around Boston I can recommend a very very good ent dr my daughter has.....private mail me if you want info.....good luck..

[peds77]

thank you for the info...very sorry about your daughter...my sons condition whatever it may be it not that serious so i'm very thankful for that...good luck

[Pedi-ER-RN]

could be laryngomalacia. Get a referral to a pediatric ENT and have them scope your child. Our ENT will scope in the ER sometimes. He puts lidocaine in the nares and the babies don't seem to mind it.

[DDRN4me]

i agree that you should have him checked by a PEDI ENT. do you live near a specialty children's hospital? make sure the doc you see is a pedi specialist, kis are not just little adults when it comes to stuff like this. good luck! prayers for you and your son!!

[sara52g]

I have seen many cases of 'mild' tracheomalacia that can resolve as the child grows. For some it just means they may need some extra support when they get a cold/URI (ie oxygen,mist,etc) but be healthy the rest of the time. An ENT consult and a scope is probably a good idea, but tracheomalacia definetely can be mild enough not to cause any major respiratory or other health issues
hope this helps

[NRSKarenRN]

See our previous post: http://allnurses.com/forums/f41/any-...ved-35195.html

[NessaNurse]

sounds like largynmalacia or perhaps a sub glottic mass of some sort. I agree with the post to see a Peds ENT to scope