Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Cold Air For Croup Isn’t an Old Wives’ Tale

Results from a randomized controlled trial presented in Pediatrics indicates that exposing children with laryngotracheobronchitis/acute viral laryngotracheitis to cold, outdoor air (<10°C or <50°F) can be beneficial in reducing symptoms when used as an adjunct to oral dexamethasone. Children in the trial were aged 3 months to 10 years and were seen in a tertiary pediatric emergency department, where they received a single dose of 0.6 mg/kg oral dexamethasone. The group of patients who were …

Acute Stridor in Children

Urgent message: Acute stridor in pediatric patients is alarming to children, parents, and healthcare providers alike. Differential diagnosis is the key to initial evaluation and management of this worrisome symptom. Here is how to think it through. JERRI A. ROSE, MD, FAAP Stridor is an externally audible sound caused by abnormal air passage during breathing.1 It results from turbulent airflow through large airways. When a normal respiratory volume of air passes through narrowed airways, the …

Abstracts in Urgent Care October 2006

Each month, Dr. Nahum Kovalski will review a handful ofabstracts from, or relevant to, urgent care practices and practitioners. For the full reports, go to the source cited under each title. Dexamethasone Has Advantage Over Prednisolone in Children with Croup Citation: Sparrow A, Geelhoed G. Arch Dis Child. 2006;91:580-583. Children with croup who are treated with prednisolone are more likely than those treated with dexamethasone to return for additional medical care, researchers in Australia reported …