Læknablaðið - 15.04.2011, Page 32

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One year follow-up of patients discharged from
the emergency department with non-specific abdominal pai
Objective: Non-specific abdominal pain (NSAP) is
the most common diagnosis of patients presenting to
emergency departments (ED) with abdominal pain. The aim
of this retrospective study was to investigate how many
NSAP patients were re-admitted within 1 year to the ED
with abdominal pain.
Material and methods: Included were all patients
discharged with NSAP from adult EDs of Landspítali
University Hospital (gynecology and pediatric EDs
excluded), from January 1,2005 to December 31,2005.
Hospital records for patients re-admitted within 12 months
with abdominal pain were reviewed. Symptoms, pain
location, blood tests and imaging results were registered,
also the subsequent discharge diagnosis at re-admission.
Results: Out of 62.116 patients attending the EDs in
2005,1411 (2.3%) were diagnosed with NSAP. During
12 months, 112 of these 1411 patients (7.9%) were
re-admitted to the ED with abdominal pain, most of them
22 times. Out of 112 patients, 27 (24.1%) were discharged
with a more specific diagnosis; cholelithiasis (29.6%),
appendicitis (18.5%) and gastrointestinal cancer (7.4%)
being the most common diagnosis. The other 85 (76%)
patients were diagnosed with NSAP again. Surgery was
performed in 17 of the 27 (63%) cases and 8 received
specific treatment, most often antibiotics.
Conclusion: Almost 8% of discharged NSAP patients
were re-admitted within a year for abdominal pain. At
re-admission, one of four patients received a more specific
diagnosis, most often cholelithiasis or appendicitis. Our
results suggest that the diagnosis of patients with NSAP, at
the first visit to the ED, could be improved.
Gunnarsson OS, Birgisson G, Oddsdottir M, Gudbjartsson T.
One year follow-up of patients discharged from the emergency department with non-specific abdominat pain. Icel Med J2011;
97:231-236
Key words: Abdominal pain, non-specific abdominal pain, prognosis, operations, emergency department
Correspondence: Tómas Guðbjartsson, tomasgud@landspitali.is
Barst: 6. október 2010, - samþykkt til birtingar: 5. janúar 2011
Hagsmunatengsl: Engin
236 LÆKNAblaSií 2011/97