Numerical investigation of corticosteroid aerosol transport characteristics for pediatric acute epiglottitis at different severity levels

Inhalation therapy is widely used in the treatment of acute epiglottitis (AE). However, few studies specifically consider the anatomical variations in pediatric AE treatment. This study aims to evaluate the deposition pattern of inhalation corticosteroids (ICS) in realistic upper airway models of pediatric AE patients. The epiglottic angle increases with the severity of AE, and five models of epiglottic angle were constructed. The computational fluid particle dynamics (CFPD) was employed to simulate the airflow transport of pediatric AE and the particle deposition in the target area. The results show that as AE progressed, worsened airway narrowing was observed in the epiglottis region, accompanied by a decreasing trend in the optimal ICS particle size. The deposition pattern of ICS in pediatric AE is closely linked to the disease severity. Furthermore, the airway resistance increases significantly at 75 degrees AE, providing an aerodynamic basis for assessing the severity of laryngeal obstruction.