Clinical signs and symptoms typical of upper airway obstruction at different anatomical levels
| Location | Typical signs and symptoms |
|---|---|
| Pharynx | Hot potato voice, drooling, odynophagia (painful swallowing), stertor, worse on supine position |
| Supraglottis | Hot potato voice, drooling, odynophagia, inspiratory stridor |
| Glottis and subglottis | Hoarse or raspy voice, normal swallowing, barking cough, inspiratory or biphasic stridor |
| Tracheobronchial tree (intrathoracic) | Normal voice, normal swallowing, expiratory stridor, wheeze, etc |
Adapted from Pediatric ENT. 2007 With kind permission of Springer Science+Business Media.22
ENT, ear nose and throat.