Croup << kroop >> is an inflammation of the air passages of the throat and trachea (windpipe). During an attack of croup, the mucous membranes in these areas become inflamed and swollen, restricting the flow of air. A victim of croup feels hoarse, breathes with great difficulty, and wheezes when inhaling. The patient also develops a hollow, barking cough. Croup occurs most often among children who are 6 months to 3 years old. Their air passages are smaller and more easily blocked.
Most croup results from influenza, a cold, or some other respiratory infection caused by a virus. Attacks of viral croup last three or four days. In mild cases, physicians prescribe bed rest and breathing moist air from a vaporizer. In severe cases, the patient may receive oxygen and a mist of a drug that widens the breathing passages. If the air passages become completely blocked, the physician performs an intubation or a tracheotomy. An intubation involves inserting a tube into the nose or mouth and through the swollen throat to the lungs. In a tracheotomy, the doctor cuts an opening through the neck into the trachea below the blockage.
Croup may also be caused by allergic reactions or bacterial infections. Drugs used to treat asthma help relieve croup that results from an allergy. A kind of bacterial croup called acute epiglottitis can develop into a life-threatening blockage of the air passages within hours. Doctors treat this condition with antibiotics and perform an intubation or tracheotomy if necessary. Another bacterial infection causes diphtheria, also called membranous croup, a severe disease in which a membrane forms over the air passages.
See also Diphtheria.
