Table 2.

Croup severity

Feature	Mild	Moderate	Severe	Impending respiratory failure
Barky cough	Occasional	Frequent	Frequent	Often not prominent due to fatigue
Stridor	None or minimal at rest	Easily audible at rest	Prominent inspiratory and occasionally expiratory	Audible at rest, but may be quiet or hard to hear
In-drawing suprasternal and/or intercostal	None to mild	Visible at rest	Marked or severe	May not be marked
Distress, agitation or lethargy (CNS hypoxia)	None	None to limited	Substantial lethargy may be present	Lethargy or decreased level of consciousness
Cyanosis	None	None	None	Dusky or cyanotic without supplemental oxygen

CNS Central nervous system. Modified from Bjornson and Johnson (1).