What Types of Treatment Do Pediatric Pulmonologists Provide?
Pediatric pulmonologists often treat children with the following conditions:
- Chronic cough
- Difficulty breathing
- Recurring pneumonia (infection of the lungs)
- Asthma (chronic inflammation of the airways)
- Cystic fibrosis (a genetic disease with pulmonary and nutritional symptoms)
- Apnea (when a child’s breathing stops for a prolonged time)
- Chronic lung disease in premature infants
- Noisy breathing
- Conditions that require special equipment to monitor and/or help with breathing at home
What is Pediatric Pulmonology?
Pediatric pulmonologists specialize in treating children with breathing problems. Common conditions we treat include:
- Asthma
- Pneumonia
- Wheezing
- Bronchitis
Frequently, patients come to see pediatric pulmonologists to determine if their child's wheezing is asthma or something else. Other conditions treated by pediatric pulmonologists include:
- Apnea (Babies with apnea will stop breathing, or "forget" to breathe.)
- Technology-dependent children (Some children require oxygen and/or a respirator to help them breathe.)
- Cystic Fibrosis (Cystic Fibrosis is an inherited condition that causes an excessive buildup of mucus in the lungs.)
Services offered by Pediatric Pulmonologists include pulmonary function testing and flexible fiberoptic bronchoscopy (FFB). Pulmonary function testing is a non-invasive test can be done in different ways to work best for children of various ages. An FFB allows pulmonologists to look inside the lungs with a fiberoptic scope. This more invasive procedure is not surgery, but does require sedation.