Treat Laryngeal Papillomatosis
Laryngeal papillomatosis is caused by a virus that makes benign tumors (warts) grow on the larynx (voice box), on the vocal cords or in the airways of the nose and throat. It is most common in children under three years old, although adults may contract it, as well. Physicians usually treat it with surgery. Fortunately, it is rare.
Instructions
Treat Laryngeal Papillomatosis
1. Watch carefully for symptoms of laryngeal papillomatosis in children too young to communicate their discomfort. Symptoms include stridor (an audible sound as the breath passes through the airway), dysphagia (difficulty swallowing), vocal changes (lowering of pitch, breathiness), and signs of breathing difficulties, such as flared nostrils and tensing of the neck muscles.
2. Take the child who shows symptoms to the doctor right away. Ask for a fiber optic scan (technically a nasopharyngoscopy) to search for the growths caused by laryngeal papillomatosis.
3. Schedule surgery immediately if the airways are dangerously blocked. If vocal change is the only indication, surgery is elective.
4. Stay alert for recurrences. The warts almost always come back and surgery is currently the only way to treat laryngeal papillomatosis.
5. Find out whether the surgeon recommends traditional or carbon dioxide laser surgery and why. The latter is usually preferred, but there may be reasons to use the older, more traditional method.
6. Investigate adjunctive treatments such as interferon, Indole-3-carbinol, or Ribavirin aerosol, which may slow the speed at which the tumors come back.
7. Do not agree to a tracheotomy (placing a tube that leads to the trachea, or wind pipe, through an opening in the neck to aid breathing) unless there is no other alternative. Tracheotomy for severe laryngeal papillomatosis, though once advised, has since been discovered to worsen the virus and increase the growth of the tumors.
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