Palmer Ryan, Anon Jack B, Gallagher Phil
Millcreek Community Hospital, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 16508, USA.
Curr Opin Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2011 Jun;19(3):204-9. doi: 10.1097/MOO.0b013e328345aa7c.
Pediatric cough is a common complaint in 35% of preschool children and 9% of 7-11-year-olds. The cause of the cough is often elusive. This review article presents a framework from which to approach the pediatric patient with chronic cough.
The cause of cough in the pediatric patient is often allergy, postnasal drip, asthma, or infection. The existence of cough-variant asthma has been brought into question and evidence is detailed in this article.
The treatment of chronic cough in a pediatric population should be approached from a multidisciplinary team consisting of pulmonologists, gastroenterologists, allergists, immunologists and otolaryngologists. Once a specific diagnosis is determined, treatment should be specific to that diagnosis.
