Glucocorticoids for Croup in Children

Abstract

Clinical question: For children with croup, do glucocorticoids reduce clinical symptoms, minimize return visits and/or (re)admissions to the hospital, shorten lengths of stay, or reduce the need for additional treatments?

Bottom line: Glucocorticoids reduce symptoms of croup at 2 hours and for at least 24 hours, reduce return visits to care, and shorten hospital stays by about 15 hours. Serious adverse events are infrequent.