Do children who experience laryngospasm have an increased risk of upper respiratory tract infection?
GROUND: Laryngospasm is the most frequently reported respiratory complication associated with upper respiratory infection and general anesthesia in retrospective studies, but prospective studies have failed to demonstrate any increase in risk. METHODS: A case-control study was performed to examine whether children with laryngospasm were more likely to have an upper respiratory infection on the day of surgery. The parents of all patients (N = 15,183) who were admitted through the day surgery unit were asked if their child had an active or recent (within 2 weeks of surgery) upper respiratory infection and were questioned about specific signs and symptoms to determine if the child met Tait and Knight’s definition of an upper respiratory infection. Control subjects were randomly selected from patients whose surgery had occurred within 1 day of the laryngospasm event. RESULTS: Patients who developed laryngospasm (N = 123) were 2.05 times (95% confidence interval 1.21-3.45) more likely to ha
