Causes of stridor in newborns

Abstract

Noisy breathing is a common presenting symptom among newborns to primary care and the clinician must be able to differentiate the different types of noisy breathing such as stridor, stretor, snoring and wheezing. Inspiratory stridor is one of the most important clinical findings in newborns and it requires fast and adequate evaluation of the newborn in order to determine the underlying etiology, because some of the pathologies that lead to stridor in newborns can be life threatening, depending on the severity of the airway obstruction and the presence or absence of associated symptoms as respiratory distress or feeding issues. It indicates the obstruction of the larynx, glottis or subglottic area. In the newborn period laryngomalacia is the most common cause of inspiratory stridor. This type of stridor worsens with agitation, after feeding and in supine positioning. A newborn that presents at the hospital with stridor can be managed conservatively or by surgery depending on the severity and the underlying pathology.

Keywords

• neonatal stridor
• laryngomalacia
• larynx
• glottis