A Barky Cough Likely Means Croup
Croup is a common cause of upper airway obstruction in pediatrics, and is characterized by acute onset of a barky cough and may be accompanied by noisy breathing. Typically, most cases occur in patients between 6 months old to 5 years old and often peaks in patients around 2 years old. Since croup is usually caused by a viral infection, antibiotics are often not useful in treatment.
Providing Evidence-Based Knowledge for Busy Clinicians
TREKK offers our Bottom Line Recommendations (BLR) resource for all clinicians to provide best practices and evidence-based information when diagnosing and managing pediatric patients with croup. This clear, concise resource has the most recent information on:
- Assessment
- Management
- Safe Home Discharge Criteria
- Hospital Admission and Transfer to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) Criteria
Additionally, healthcare providers can view TREKK’s virtual education recording on croup on our website. This education session was led by Dr. Shannon MacPhee and was presented in partnership with the IWK Health Centre and the Nova Scotia Health Authority. This video outlines an overview of croup, common symptoms and causes, key information to know, and more.
Clinicians can also access TREKK’s evidence repository on croup to find a curated list of the best available resources and evidence.
The Importance of Distinguishing Croup
Our Croup BLR resource was developed by Dr. David Johnson (University of Calgary, Cumming School of Medicine), Dr. Jennifer Turnbull (McGill University Health Centre, McGill Global Child Health Program, Montreal Children’s Hospital), and Dr. Terry Klassen (University of Saskatchewan), and was recently updated in February 2026.
“Croup is among the top ten reasons for parents to bring their child to an emergency department,” says Dr. David Johnson, “Distinguishing croup from less common, but more serious diseases is critically important. Confirmation is accurately made using clinical features and does not require laboratory or radiological testing. The use of evidenced-based therapies rapidly resolves respiratory distress, leads to substantially better outcomes and reduces unnecessary health care utilization.”
Clear Guidelines Supports Patient Care
TREKK’s Croup BLR is the ideal resource to be used as bedside reference for busy clinicians. With our clear, concise format, this tool gets to the point efficiently and highlights the most recent evidence available. This allows healthcare providers the peace of mind to know that they’re providing accurate, up-to-date care.
Supporting Healthcare Providers with Up-to-Date Evidence
TREKK’s croup resources are created with busy healthcare providers in mind to efficiently diagnose and manage pediatric patients with croup. By providing clear, evidence-based guidance, this allows clinicians to make quick decisions during busy respiratory seasons and helps improve patient care.
Healthcare providers can access these croup resources, along with TREKK’s full suite of pediatric evidence-based tools, on the TREKK website at any time.
