What this deck covers
Croup in ten clinical teaching cases with worked explanations. Each case gives you a clinical vignette, four options, the correct answer, and an explanation of why each of the other three is wrong.
Diagnoses and management options tested
Across the ten cases you are asked to choose between options such as: Acute epiglottitis, Viral croup (laryngotracheobronchitis), Foreign body aspiration, Bacterial tracheitis, Barking cough during crying, Inspiratory stridor only when agitated, Spasmodic croup, Bronchial asthma, Gastroesophageal reflux disease, Urgent lateral neck x-ray, Nasopharyngeal swab for viral polymerase chain reaction, Clinical diagnosis and severity assessment, Arterial blood gas analysis, Viral croup, Peritonsillar abscess, Retropharyngeal abscess, Impending respiratory failure, Oral dexamethasone, single dose, Nebulized budesonide for three days, Oral prednisolone for five days, Supportive care only, with no steroids, Immediate intubation, Nebulized racemic epinephrine, Viral pneumonia, Pulmonary edema.
Clinical pearls from this deck
- Viral croup starts with 12–72 h of URI symptoms, then an abrupt seal-like barking cough and inspiratory stridor that worsen at night. Parainfluenza type 1 causes subglottic inflammation (the “steeple sign”). The child stays non-toxic and swallows secretions — unlike epiglottitis (toxic, drooling) — with a viral prodrome rather than a sudden choking event.
- Stridor at rest — especially becoming biphasic — signals significant subglottic narrowing and severe disease. The ominous sign to recognize is QUIET stridor in a distressed, exhausted child: airflow is now too low to make noise, a red flag for impending respiratory failure that needs airway intervention, not reassurance.
The ten worked cases in this deck, with the images and the full explanation of every option, are part of Pediatric Case Review membership. See what is included.
More from this system: all ent decks and question sets · pediatric reference values.
