Comparison between Croup, Epiglottitis and Tracheitis

Table 1 presents a comparison between croup, epiglottitis and tracheitis.

	Croup	Epiglottitis	Tracheitis
Incidence	Common	Rare	Rare
Age	6 months – 3 years	2–7 years	6 months- 14 years
Aetiology	Viral	Bacterial	Bacterial
Speed of onset	Slow	Very rapid	Rapid
Fever	Rarely >39 degrees	Normally >39 degrees	Normally >39 degrees
Cough	Barking	Suppressed	Present
Voice	Hoarse	Muffled	Hoarse
Position	Supine	Sitting forward, neck extended	Supine
Neck X-Ray AP	Steeple sign*	Normal	Steeple sign*
Neck X-Ray Lateral	Normal	Thumb print	Hazy
Response to adrenaline	Very good	No response	Partial or no response
*Steeple sign: On anteroposterior radiographs of the soft tissue of the neck the lateral convexities of the subglottic trachea are lost and narrowing of the subglottic lumen produces an inverted ‘V’ pattern, resembling a church steeple. [40]