Fluoroscopy of the pediatric airway

  • Patient preparation: none
  • Contrast used: none
  • Technique: set video to high frame-rate mode, fluoro and observe the patient’s airway and thorax during inspiration and expiration, note on expiration the trachea buckles to the side opposite the arch
  • Images to obtain: AP and lateral airway in inspiration and expiration, AP of chest in inspiration and expiration
  • Looking for: abnormal narrowing of airway on AP image (croup), collapse of the airway on lateral image (tracheomalacia), asymmetrical aeration of the lungs with heart rocking back and forth during inspiration and expiration due to air trapping / ball valve effect (airway foreign body)
  • Post procedure tasks: none