Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2013 Nov;52(11):1014-21.
doi: 10.1177/0009922813504823. Epub 2013 Oct 3.

The comparative effectiveness of prednisolone and dexamethasone for children with croup: a community-based randomized trial

Jane M Garbutt  1 , Bridget Conlon, Randall Sterkel, Jack Baty, Kenneth B Schechtman, Kathy Mandrell, Erin Leege, Shannon Gentry, Robert C Stunk
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

The comparative effectiveness of prednisolone and dexamethasone for children with croup: a community-based randomized trial

Jane M Garbutt et al. Clin Pediatr (Phila). 2013 Nov.

Abstract

Background. Although common practice, evidence to support treatment of croup with prednisolone is scant. Methods. We conducted a community-based randomized trial to compare the effectiveness of prednisolone (2 mg/kg/d for 3 days, n = 41) versus 1 dose of dexamethasone (0.6 mg/kg) and 2 doses of placebo (n = 46). Participants were children 1 to 8 years old with croup symptoms ≤48 hours, categorized as mild (42%) or moderate (58%). Results. There were no differences for those treated with dexamethasone or prednisolone for additional health care for croup (2% vs 7%, P = .34), duration of croup symptoms (2.8 vs 2.2 days, P = .63), nonbarky cough (6.1 vs 5.9 days, P = .81), nights with disturbed sleep for the parent (0.68 vs 1.21 nights, P = .55), and days with stress (1.39 vs 1.56 days, P = .51). Conclusion. There were no detected differences in outcomes between the 2 croup treatments for either child or parent.

Keywords: croup; dexamethasone; prednisolone; randomized trial.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None of the authors report any relationships, conditions or circumstances that present a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Russell KF, Liang Y, O’Gorman K, Johnson DW, Klassen TP. Glucocorticoids for croup. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2011;(1):CD001955. - PubMed
    1. Segal AO, Crighton EJ, Moineddin R, Mamdani M, Upshur RE. Croup hospitalizations in Ontario: a 14-year time-series analysis. Pediatrics. 2005 Jul;116(1):51–55. - PubMed
    1. Bjornson CL, Klassen TP, Williamson J, et al. A randomized trial of a single dose of oral dexamethasone for mild croup. N Engl J Med. 2004 Sep 23;351(13):1306–1313. - PubMed
    1. Jaffe DM. The treatment of croup with glucocorticoids. N Engl J Med. 1998 Aug 20;339(8):553–555. - PubMed
    1. Ausejo M, Saenz A, Pham B, et al. The effectiveness of glucocorticoids in treating croup: meta-analysis. West J Med. 1999 Oct;171(4):227–232. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms