It may be necessary to examine your child’s airway with a fibreoptic endoscope (camera).

Whilst this sounds like a difficult thing to do in a child, they in fact tolerate this remarkably well.

The procedure involves placing some local anaesthetic on some cotton wool in the nose which remains for about 20 minutes. This does not hurt but can make the nose feel blocked and leave a slightly bitter taste.

The procedure is carried out with a nurse holding your child with an arm around their arms and one across the forehead. The endoscope is very small (2.4 mm in diameter) but can feel a little strange and uncomfortable. However the procedure only lasts a 1-2 minutes.   If you are happy to hold your child yourself and not have a nurse that is fine – please inform the doctor of your wishes.

The findings of the examination are captured on video and played back to you after the procedure.   Some images may be saved on to your childs medical record but the video is not stored.

There are no real side effects of having the procedure other than the taste of the anaesthetic and the discomfort of being restrained.