DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF ASPIRATION SYNDROME IN INFANTS

Objective: to study the frequency of aspiration processes in children admitted with respiratory complaints; to evaluate the effectiveness of different treatments of microaspiration syndrome. Methods: for detecting the frequency of aspiration syndrome in infants and young children with acute lower respiratory tract lesions without neurological disorders, monitoring of 162 children in the period 2013-2015 was conducted. The comparison group consisted of 24 children with aspiration on the background of an organic lesion of the central nervous system. Results: Of 162 children surveyed, signs of aspiration were revealed in 27 cases, accounting for 16.7%. Aspiration syndrome incidence was highest in the first six months of life; of the 67 children admitted to hospital with acute lower respiratory tract lesions without concomitant neurologic disease before the age of 6 months, aspiration was detected in 17 cases (25%). Gastroesophageal reflux (GER) occurred in 4 children in the first six months of life, which was not different from the frequency of GER in healthy children. Of 88 children in the latter six months, only 3 children had signs of microaspiration (3.5%). Of the 47 neurologically healthy children, recurrent symptoms of broncho-pulmonary diseases were observed in 20 children. Conclusion: These data show that the food microaspiration is sufficiently frequent cause of respiratory syndrome, especially among infants. Respiratory syndrome in children with the food microaspiration syndrome is characterized by repeated episodes of cough, obstruction with a trend towards prolonged duration due to the continuing aspiration.

dysphagia, aspiration, Sandifer's syndrome, infants