Acute epiglottitis. A management protocol based on a 15-year material.

During a 15-year period 141 patients were treated for acute epiglottitis. 70 of the patients needed an artificial airway which was established by means of nasotracheal intubation. The mean intubation time was 41 h. All patients except 1, who suffocated before a free airway could be established, were discharged from the hospital without any serious sequelae. A follow-up study revealed no serious physical or psychological damage caused by the intubation treatment. On the basis of our 15-year material and the literature a protocol for the handling of patients suspected for acute epiglottitis is presented.