Referral to emergency
If any of the following are present or suspected, please refer the patient to the emergency department (via ambulance if necessary) or seek emergent medical advice if in a remote region.
- if the stridor is acute, please refer to the emergency department if there are signs of respiratory distress, fevers or “stridor at rest”
- if the wheezing is acute, consider acute bronchiolitis and foreign body aspiration and refer to emergency department if there is signs of respiratory distress or history of inhalation
Please contact the on-call registrar to discuss your concerns prior to referral.
For clinical advice, please telephone the relevant metropolitan Local Health Network switchboard and ask to speak to the relevant specialty service.
Southern Adelaide Local Health Network
- Flinders Medical Centre (08) 8204 5511
Women's and Children's Health Network
- Women’s and Children’s Hospital (08) 8161 7000
Inclusions
- stridor not requiring referral to emergency department (see Referral to Emergency)
Triage categories
Category 1 (appointment clinically indicated within 30 days)
- stridor in infants < 3 months of age
- evidence of biphasic stridor (stridor occurring with both inspiratory and expiratory phases of breathing)
- stridor with poor growth
- referrals from Paediatric Ear, Nose and Throat post flexible nasoendocopsy confirming upper airway pathology
Category 2 (appointment clinically indicated within 90 days)
- mild stridor without feeding difficulties
Category 3 (appointment clinically indicated within 365 days)
- nil
For more on outpatient referrals, see the general referral information page.
Essential referral information
Completion required before first appointment to ensure patients are ready for care. Please indicate in the referral if the patient is unable to access mandatory tests or investigations as they incur a cost or are unavailable locally.
- identifies as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- relevant social history, including identifying within your referral if you feel your patient is from a vulnerable population, under guardianship/out-of-home care arrangements and/or requires a third party to receive correspondence on their behalf
- interpreter required
Additional information to assist triage categorisation
- relevant allied health/diagnostic/imaging reports, including location of company and accession number
- feeding quality
Clinical management advice
- both Paediatric Respiratory Medicine and Paediatric Ear, Nose and Throat departments typically see all children with stridor as a category 1, and work in parallel to manage these patients
- if the stridor is mild, present from birth and the child is thriving, referrals can be directed to Paediatric Ear, Nose and Throat and/or Paediatric Respiratory Medicine for evaluation
- if there are any signs of respiratory distress and the child is not thriving, please refer to Paediatric Respiratory Medicine for further evaluation