Croup is a common cause of ____ ___ in ____ ____. It is usually ___ and ___-____. Croup is the clinical syndrome of a ____ ____, ____ ____, and ____ ____. It is usually cause by a ____ ____ of the ___ ___ that results in ____ of the ____, ____ and _____, thereby compromising airflow through the _____ airway. It mostly affects children between _-__ months, although may occur in ___ ___ and ____.
Airway obstruction; young children
Mild; self-limiting
Hoarse voice; barking cough; inspirations stridor
Viral infection; upper airway; inflammation; larynx, trachea, bronchi; proximal
6-36 months; older children; adults.
As there are a number of structural and infective conditions that may also cause ____ ____ ____ similar to croup, paramedics should consider three factors when deciding whether the presence of stridor and the use of accessory muscles of respiration relate to croup or an alternate diagnosis:
Upper airway obstruction
AGE
CHARACTER; STRIDOR
Inspiratory and Expiratory stridor; fixed tracheal obstruction
TOXICITY Do not; pale, very febrile, and poorly perfused; stridor; breathing difficulty Does not Oxygen; close monitoring; deterioration Life threatening; nebulised adrenaline Stridor; moderate Stridor; softer; deteriorates
Symptoms of Mild; Moderate; Severe Croup
Mild: Barking cough; nil or intermittent stridor; no cyanosis
Moderate: Barking cough; persistent stridor at rest; some tracheal tug and chest wall recession; can be placated, interested in surroundings; may have cyanosis
Severe: Persistent/soft stridor at rest; marked tracheal tug and chest wall recession; apathetic or restless/cyanosis; palpable paradox
Management of Mild, Moderate, and Severe Croup
Including medications, dose, route, repeats, max x1
Mild: transport to hospital
Moderate: Oxygen if indicated, transport to hospital
Severe: Urgent transport to hospital (A8)
Adrenaline 1:1,000 (201) via neb and O2 8L/min
<16yo: 500mcg/kg NEB, Max bolus 5mg, repeat 30min whilst indicated, no max.
Regularly repeat and document ABCD physical examinations and physiological observations in order to identify trends in clinical deterioration