Sixteen years of group in a Western Australian teaching hospital: Effects of routine steroid treatment

Study objective: To describe the experience of croup at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children (PMH), the only tertiary pediatric hospital in Western Australia, from 1980 through 1995 with reference to the introduction of routine steroid treatment in the ICU in 1989, in the general hospital wards from 1989 through 1993, and in the emergency department observation ward in 1993. Methods: Information on the numbers of children with croup presenting to PMH from 1980 through 1985 who were admitted to the general wards, the ICU, and the observation ward; intubation rate; and length of stay was obtained from a combination of state health records, hospital statistics, logbooks, and computer records. Results: The numbers of children who presented to and were admitted to PMH with croup were similar for all years of the study period. Since 1989, the annual number of children intubated (1980-1989 average, 8; 1990-1995 average, .4) and total ICU days for croup (1980-1989 average, 129, 1990-1995 average, 24) has decreased dramatically. The annual percentage of children transferred to the ICU (1980-1989 average, 11.6%; 1994-1995 average, 2.6%) and the average length of stay for PMH (1980-1989 average, 2.03 days; 1994-1995 average, 1.1 days) decreased every year from 1989 through 1994, coincident with increasing use of steroids for croup in the general wards. The change of policy from no steroids to compulsory use of steroids in the observation ward coincided with an increase in the percentage of children discharged home directly from the observation ward (to 97% from 80%). Conclusion: The introduction of steroids at PMH coincided with a dramatic decrease in measures of severity for children admitted to hospital with mild to severe croup. All children hospitalized with croup should receive steroid therapy.