Making Sense of BRUE

It’s one of the most unsettling calls a pediatrician can get: a baby who turned blue, stopped breathing or suddenly went limp, only to appear completely normal moments later. Welcome to the clinical gray zone of BRUE (Brief Resolved Unexplained Event). It sits at the intersection of alarm and ambiguity, where the history is often dramatic, but your clinical exam is reassuring. We are going to go beyond the definition and into real-life decisions that you have to make on the phone and in the office. From risk stratification to avoiding unnecessary testing, we break down what actually matters in the moment and what doesn’t. 

This episode was recorded during a live podcast event in Colorado Springs with Michael DiStefano, MD, and Jamie Hug, DO. Dr. DiStefano is the Chief Medical Officer of Children’s Hospital Colorado Colorado Springs and a pediatric emergency medicine physician. Dr. Hug is a pediatrician in Southern Colorado at the Children’s Clinic of Pueblo. 

In this episode, our expert discusses: 

• What is considered a BRUE 
• When to refer to the emergency department  
• How pediatricians can reassure families and validate their experiences 
• Why history is so critical to the exam