Childhood habit cough treated with consultation by telephone: a case report

Ran D Anbar

doi:10.1186/1745-9974-5-2

Abstract

BackgroundChildhood habit cough has been treated successfully by making suggestions that it can be stopped, desensitization techniques, use of distractors, provision of rewards, and self-hypnosis. All of these techniques have involved personal contact between a health care provider and a patient.Case presentationA 5-year-old with cystic fibrosis was diagnosed with habit cough following evaluation by a pediatric pulmonologist and otolaryngologist. An expert in the treatment of habit cough provided instruction by telephone to the patient's mother regarding use of hypnotic techniques in this setting, which was associated with resolution of the cough within a week.ConclusionAs this report describes a single patient, it is possible that his improvement was unrelated to the given advice. Therefore, it remains to be seen whether therapy by telephone for habit cough is applicable widely.

Highlights

Childhood habit cough has been treated successfully by making suggestions that it can be stopped, desensitization techniques, use of distractors, provision of rewards, and selfhypnosis
As this report describes a single patient, it is possible that his improvement was unrelated to the given advice
It remains to be seen whether therapy by telephone for habit cough is applicable widely

Summary

Background

Childhood habit cough has been treated successfully by making suggestions that it can be stopped, desensitization techniques, use of distractors, provision of rewards, and self-hypnosis [1]. Four months before he developed habit cough, the patient manifested severe coughing after contracting influenza At that time, he was diagnosed with a second pneumonia, and treated with intravenous antibiotics. As the cough persisted for a month, his mother decided to research habit cough on the internet, and found an article about its treatment with self-hypnosis [1] She called the pediatric pulmonologist author of this article and asked whether he would be willing to evaluate the child. His mother wondered whether the residual cough was related to his CF lung disease

Discussion

Findings

Conclusion

Anbar RD