Abstract

FUENTES ZAMBRANA, Mireya  and  MEJIA SALAS, Héctor. Dexamethasone vs epinefrine and dexamethasone in treating croup. Rev. bol. ped. [online]. 2005, vol.44, n.2, pp.83-86. ISSN 1024-0675.

Objetive: the main objcctive of the study is to demonstrate that all types of laringotracheitis can be treated in the emergency room over a short period of time; also lo develop a standardized treatment protocol. Design: blind clinical assay aleatory study. Location: the study was performed at the emergency department of the Hospital del Niño "Ovidio Aliaga" Patients: there were 79 patients diagnosed with laryngotracheitis grade I, II and III. 30 patients were included in group A to be medicated with dexametasone and epinephrine, Group B had to be medicated with only dexametasone. All patients were followed-up, grade IV cases were excluded from the study. Intervention: once patients were separated in categories. they were further randomly divided in two groups and they were studied according to the protocol and floor chart. Evaluation of main results: we evaluated how soon each patient started to get better, if new or extra doses of epinephrine were necessary, failure to respond to treatment and eventual need for admission. Results: all patients in group I and II with different degrees of laringotracheitis responded to treatment in an average lapse of 99 minutes. The initial time had an RRR of 21%; the RRA of 16%, the NNT of 6. The initial dosage of epinephrine had a RRR of 25%; with RRA of 20%; with NNT of 5. Conclusions: the study demonstrates the efficacy of dexametasone in the treatment of laryngotracheitis and that it is possible to manage all degrees of this ailment in the emergency department avoiding the burden of having to admit these patients.

Keywords : croup; dexamethasone; epinefrine.

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