Hoarseness

Hoarseness in childhood is not rare within the scope of infection of the respiratory tract, but if it is persisting, examination of the ENT region, especially the vocal cords, is necessary.

 In childhood hoarseness is most often the result of misuse of the voice (for inst. frequent yelling), connected with chronic infection or reflux disease, in which cases phoniatric rehabilitation and a special dietary regimen have to be prescribed.

Laryngeal papillomatosis, i.e. growth of wart-like changes in the larynx, is something that should not be neglected, for this has to be further diagnosed and properly treated.

As for this examination the vocal cords have to be visualized, examination with a flexible fiberendoscope may be necessary. This examination is painless, done through the nose and lasts only a few minutes, but requires preceding explanation of the procedure to the parents and preparation, because during the examination the child has to be held properly, in order to perform it  without damaging the endoscope,which is very fragile and extremely sensitive to damaging.