Pediatric Otolaryngology

Pediatric Airway, Voice, and Swallowing Program

The Pediatric Airway, Voice, and Swallowing Program provides care for children with congenital and acquired disorders of the aero-digestive tract that may affect their ability to breathe, speak, or eat. These disorders include breathing difficulties, chronic cough, recurrent croup, feeding difficulties, laryngopharyngeal reflux, chronic sinusitis, and problems with voice and speech.

The causes of these disorders may be straightforward, but often require expertise from several disciplines, including pediatric otolaryngology, gastroenterology, and pulmonology, creating a multi-disciplinary collaboration between specialties. Children with congenital and acquired airway disorders may be treated with open airway procedures (made with a neck incision into the airway) or endoscopic procedures (performed through the mouth, eliminating the need for a neck incision).