Hi,I am Dr. Santosh Kondekar (Pediatrician). I will be looking into your question and guiding you through the process. Please write your question below.
My daughter was born with tracheomalacia and we told her to a pulmonanary clinic and they confirm it now she is 11 months old and they are also considering that she may have asthma. She is on alot of medication and they just keep telling me that she will out grow this. They told us that by the time she was 6 months it would be gone now she is 11 months and she is having more breathing problems then before. Her choking spells are getting much better but she is still on step 2 baby food and can not tolerate any textures at all. Can you please give me some more information of what I can expect and if this is something she will out grow or if you think she will have this for the rest of her life. Thank you for your input it is greatly appreciated.
Mon, 20 Apr 2015
General & Family Physician, Dr. Samarth 's Response
Hi, tracheomalacia in your child is congenital type(presenting since birth). It can be associated with other defects like TEF or esophageal atresia. If your child has mild or minimal symptoms in form of reflux, difficulty eating solid food or hoarse voice, then conservative treatment in form of chest physiotherapy, diet modification, and antireflux pharmacotherapy is given. Yes, most of the children grow out of it by 12 months but many cases have been seen to respond further late by 18 to 24 months of age when the cartilage becomes strong. If your child is having severe symptoms in form of recurrent pneumonia, Difficulty to eat anything, reflux apnea, then surgical correction becomes necessary. If the condition persists even after 24 months, I suggest you consult a pulmonologist for surgical correction. Also get an ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY and Ultrasound skull done to rule out other congenital abnormalities of heart and brain that are associated with this disorder.
What you are describing sounds like laryngomalacia, where the baby's voice box is too soft, which causes noisy breathing. This condition will correct on it's own definitely by 18 months of age. Some of these babies develop asthma in later childhood for which simple inhalation therapy with bronchodilators will be helpful. The feeding problem is not because of the tracheomalacia or laryngomalacia alone. Please check out with your doctor whether there is any problem in the food pipe. Regarding texture, it is important you introduce tasty textured food in small amounts imediately.
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Suggest Treatment For Tracheomalacia In A Child
Hi, tracheomalacia in your child is congenital type(presenting since birth). It can be associated with other defects like TEF or esophageal atresia. If your child has mild or minimal symptoms in form of reflux, difficulty eating solid food or hoarse voice, then conservative treatment in form of chest physiotherapy, diet modification, and antireflux pharmacotherapy is given. Yes, most of the children grow out of it by 12 months but many cases have been seen to respond further late by 18 to 24 months of age when the cartilage becomes strong. If your child is having severe symptoms in form of recurrent pneumonia, Difficulty to eat anything, reflux apnea, then surgical correction becomes necessary. If the condition persists even after 24 months, I suggest you consult a pulmonologist for surgical correction. Also get an ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY and Ultrasound skull done to rule out other congenital abnormalities of heart and brain that are associated with this disorder.