What are the symptoms of laryngitis in children?
Mar 19, 2025
Source: Cainiu Health
Dr. Zhou Xiaofeng
Introduction
Under normal circumstances, symptoms of pediatric laryngitis include hoarseness, barking cough, inspiratory stridor, inspiratory breathing difficulty, fever, and others. In daily life, one should pay attention to changes in weather, promptly adjust children's clothing to prevent them from getting chilled or catching a cold; maintain fresh and moist indoor air, use a humidifier to increase indoor humidity, and avoid dry air irritating the child's respiratory tract.
Generally, symptoms of pediatric laryngitis include hoarseness, barking cough, inspiratory stridor, inspiratory breathing difficulty, fever, and others. If discomfort occurs, timely medical attention is recommended. Detailed analysis is as follows:
1. Hoarseness
Inflammation may irritate the vocal cords in the larynx, causing congestion and edema, which leads to hoarseness. In severe cases, the child may even completely lose their voice. The child's speech becomes coarse and effortful, affecting daily communication.
2. Barking Cough
Inflammation of the larynx causes narrowing of the subglottic area, creating a distinctive cough sound when airflow passes through. The cough is typically barking in nature—high-pitched and hollow, resembling a puppy's bark—and is clearly different from ordinary coughing.
3. Inspiratory Stridor
Due to edema of the laryngeal mucosa, the airway becomes narrowed, producing a high-pitched stridor during inspiration. The presence of stridor indicates worsening airway obstruction.
4. Inspiratory Breathing Difficulty
As the condition progresses, laryngeal obstruction worsens, and the child may develop inspiratory breathing difficulty. This表现为 prolonged inspiration and visible retractions of the suprasternal fossa, supraclavicular fossae, and intercostal spaces during inspiration, known as the "three凹signs." These are compensatory responses by the body to overcome airway resistance by increasing inspiratory effort and are important indicators of severe illness.
5. Fever
Fever is an immune response to inflammation. Inflammatory stimuli can affect the body's temperature regulation center, potentially causing an increase in body temperature. Most affected children develop fever, with variable intensity, typically ranging between 38°C and 39°C.
In daily life, attention should be paid to weather changes, and clothing should be adjusted promptly to prevent children from catching a chill. Indoor air should be kept fresh and moist; humidifiers can be used to increase indoor humidity, avoiding dry air that may irritate the child's respiratory tract and increase the risk of laryngitis.
