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Tracheomalacia - acquired - Treatment

Alternative Names

Secondary tracheomalacia

Treatment:

The condition may improve without treatment, but persons with tracheomalacia must be monitored closely when they have respiratory infections.

Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) may be necessary for adults with respiratory distress. Rarely, surgery is needed. A stent may be needed to hold the airway.

Complications:

Aspiration pneumonia can occur from breathing in food.

Adults who develop tracheomalacia after being on a breathing machine often have serious lung problems.

Calling your health care provider:

Call your health care provider if you or your child breathes in an abnormal way. It can become an urgent or emergency condition.

Reviewed last on: 5/1/2011
Neil K. Kaneshiro, MD, MHA, Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

References

Gaissert HA, Burns J. The compromised airway: tumors, strictures, and tracheomalacia. Surg Clin North Am. 2010; 90(5):1065-1089.

Licameli GR, Richardson MA. Diagnosis and management of tracheal anomalies and tracheal stenosis. In: Cummings CW, Flint PW, Haughey BH, et al, eds. Otolaryngology: Head & Neck Surgery. 5th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Mosby Elsevier; 2010:chap 207.

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