Emergency medicine clinics of North America
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Emerg. Med. Clin. North Am. · Nov 2021
ReviewAvoiding Misdiagnosis of Abdominal Vascular Catastrophes.
Abdominal vascular emergencies are an uncommon entity in emergency medicine, but when they present, they are often catastrophic. These time-sensitive and life-threatening diagnoses are often hidden in nonspecific complaints such as nausea, vomiting, or flank pain, so the emergency physician must remain diligent and consider these in the differential diagnoses. The following is an overview of the more common of these abdominal vascular emergencies, in the hope that they help the Emergency Physician avoid the misdiagnosis and subsequent vascular catastrophe that would follow.
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Emerg. Med. Clin. North Am. · Nov 2021
ReviewDiagnoses of Exclusion in the Workup of Abdominal Complaints.
Abdominal pain is a common complaint in the emergency department, comprising 8.8% of all visits. Despite advances in medicine and imaging, 20% to 30% of patients still leave the department without a definitive diagnosis, whichhis can be both distressing for patients and unsatisfying for providers. Diagnoses of exclusion can be perilous, and their application should be carefully considered in order to not overlook more emergent complaints. However, a working knowledge of diagnoses of exclusion can guide therapeutics and specialty referrals that can ultimately provide answers and relief to a patient population often at odds with available information and expectations.