Laryngeal stenosis among hospitalized children: Results from a nationwide cross-sectional survey

Objectives: We aimed to study laryngeal stenosis among hospitalized children in the United States from 2003–2012. We hypothesized that the prevalence of laryngeal stenosis differs by race even when controlling for age, gender, and commonly associated disease conditions. Methods: We report the results of a cross-sectional survey of hospitalized patients with laryngeal stenosis. We utilized the Kids Inpatient Database (KID) to estimate the odds of laryngeal stenosis as a function of race using regression analysis. The effects of age, gender, and commonly associated conditions were controlled. Results: There were 13,910 estimated discharges of patients with laryngeal stenosis (95% CI 13,715–14,105) within the study period. This accounts for 55 cases of laryngeal stenosis per 100,000 discharges (overall prevalence = 0.22%). After controlling for age and gender, Black children had the highest likelihood of laryngeal stenosis with OR of 1.9 (95% CI 1.8–2.0, P <.001) along with children classified as Other (OR = 1.2, 95% CI 1.0–1.3, P =.03). White (OR = 0.89, 95% CI 0.83–0.89, P <.001), Hispanic (OR = 0.86, 95% CI 0.80– 0.92, P <.001), and Asian (OR = 0.53, 95% CI 0.43–0.64, P <.001) children were less likely to be diagnosed with laryngeal stenosis while Native Americans (OR = 0.96, 95% CI 0.63–1.45, P =.51) were equally likely. Conclusions: Laryngeal stenosis is more common among hospitalized Black children, while other racial groups appear to have lower risk. This elevated risk remained when controlling for age, gender, and commonly associated conditions with laryngeal stenosis. Level of Evidence: 4.