Bacterial tracheitis: A multi-centre perspective

Abstract

The published literature on bacterial tracheitis is limited. We report the first multi-centre study of bacterial tracheitis together with a concise review of the literature. We conducted a retrospective study of cases admitted during the period 19932007 to 3 tertiary paediatric centres in the United Kingdom and 1 in Australia. A total of 34 cases were identified. 31 patients (91%) required intubation. Complications included cardiorespiratory arrest in 1, ARDS in 1, hypotension in 10, toxic shock syndrome in 1 and renal failure in 1 patient(s). Staphylococcus aureus was the most commonly implicated bacterial organism, isolated from the respiratory tract in 55.8% of the cases overall. Other pa..