Never trust a croup

A 2-year-old girl presented to the James Paget University Hospitals Trust with croup-like symptoms and was later discharged with dexamethasone syrup. The patient re-presented 6 h later following maternal concern with signs of acute respiratory distress. After a period of clinical stability, she acut...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:BMJ Case Reports 2011, Vol.2011
Main Authors: Nickinson, Andrew, Minhas, Jatinder Singh, Bhalla, Minak, Anwuzia-Iwegbu, Charles, Chapman, John
Format: Report
Language:English
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:A 2-year-old girl presented to the James Paget University Hospitals Trust with croup-like symptoms and was later discharged with dexamethasone syrup. The patient re-presented 6 h later following maternal concern with signs of acute respiratory distress. After a period of clinical stability, she acutely decompensated without any prior signs of a life-threatening deterioration. She was managed using nebulised epinephrine and showed signs of clinical improvement. Although improvement persisted, the child showed signs of exhaustion following the preceding events and was later intubed with an endotracheal tube and transferred to the paediatric intensive care unit at Addenbrooke’s University Hospital, Cambridge. Endotracheal aspiration later grew parainfluenza virus, rhinovirus and Staphylococcus aureus and the patient was diagnosed with the exceptionally rare life threatening complications of croup, bacterial tracheitis. The patient was discharged from intensive care 7 days later and has since made a full recovery.
ISSN:1757-790X
DOI:10.1136/bcr.03.2011.4014