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Croup - Management
Basis for recommendation
- These recommendations are based on expert advice from the Alberta Medical Association guidelines [Alberta Medical Association, 2008], review articles [Fitzgerald, 2006; Vyas, 2007], and a text book [Brown and Klassen, 2000].
- The advice on managing fever is based on recommendations by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence [NICE, 2007].
- Although there are no published controlled studies regarding the use of analgesics and antipyretics in children with croup, it is reasonable to suppose that they will reduce fever and pain [Alberta Medical Association, 2008].
- CKS found no evidence to support the use of humidified air in the treatment of croup; there is no benefit.
- CKS found no rationale for the use of cough medicines, decongestants, or short acting beta-agonists [Bjornson and Johnson, 2008].
- CKS found no controlled trials on the potential benefits of antibiotics in a child with croup; as croup is almost always a viral illness their use is not rational [Alberta Medical Association, 2008]. Superinfections, such as bacterial tracheitis and pneumonia, occur in less than 1/1000 children with croup and prophylactic antibiotics should not be used [Bjornson and Johnson, 2008].
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