RESUMO
Pulmonary embolism (PE) can present with a range of severity. Prognostic risk stratification is important for efficacious and safe management. This second of two review articles discusses the management of high-, intermediate- and low-risk PE. We discuss strategies to identify patients suitable for urgent outpatient care in addition to identification of patients who would benefit from thrombolysis. We discuss specific subgroups of patients where optimal treatment differs from the usual approach and identify emerging management paradigms exploring new therapies and subgroups.
Assuntos
Embolia Pulmonar , Humanos , Embolia Pulmonar/diagnóstico , Embolia Pulmonar/terapia , Prognóstico , Risco , Assistência Ambulatorial , Serviço Hospitalar de EmergênciaRESUMO
This first of two practice reviews addresses pulmonary embolism (PE) diagnosis considering important aspects of PE clinical presentation and comparing evidence-based PE testing strategies. A companion paper addresses the management of PE. Symptoms and signs of PE are varied, and emergency physicians frequently use testing to 'rule out' the diagnosis in people with respiratory or cardiovascular symptoms. The emergency clinician must balance the benefit of reassuring negative PE testing with the risks of iatrogenic harms from over investigation and overdiagnosis.
Assuntos
Embolia Pulmonar , Humanos , Embolia Pulmonar/diagnósticoRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Most headache presentations to emergency departments (ED) have benign causes; however, approximately 10% will have serious pathology. International guidelines recommend that patients describing the onset of headache as 'thunderclap' undergo neuroimaging and further investigation. The association of this feature with serious headache cause is unclear. The objective of this study was to determine if patients presenting with thunderclap headache are significantly more likely to have serious underlying pathology than patients with more gradual onset and to determine compliance with guidelines for investigation. METHODS: This was a planned secondary analysis of an international, multicentre, observational study of adult ED patients presenting with a main complaint of headache. Data regarding demographics, investigation strategies and final ED diagnoses were collected. Thunderclap headache was defined as severe headache of immediate or almost immediate onset and peak intensity. Proportion of patients with serious pathology in thunderclap and non-thunderclap groups were compared by χ² test. RESULTS: 644 of 4536 patients presented with thunderclap headache (14.2%). CT brain imaging and lumbar puncture were performed in 62.7% and 10.6% of cases, respectively. Among patients with thunderclap headache, serious pathology was identified in 10.9% (95%CI 8.7% to 13.5%) of cases-significantly higher than the proportion found in patients with a different headache onset (6.6% (95% CI 5.9% to 7.4%), p<0.001.). The incidence of subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) was 3.6% (95% CI 2.4% to 5.3%) in those with thunderclap headache vs 0.3% (95% CI 0.2% to 0.5%) in those without (p<0.001). All cases of SAH were diagnosed on CT imaging. Non-serious intracranial pathology was diagnosed in 87.7% of patients with thunderclap headache. CONCLUSIONS: Thunderclap headache presenting to the ED appears be associated with higher risk for serious intracranial pathology, including SAH, although most patients with this type of headache had a benign cause. Neuroimaging rates did not align with international guidelines, suggesting potential need for further work on standardisation.
Assuntos
Transtornos da Cefaleia Primários , Hemorragia Subaracnóidea , Adulto , Humanos , Tomografia Computadorizada por Raios X/efeitos adversos , Transtornos da Cefaleia Primários/diagnóstico , Transtornos da Cefaleia Primários/epidemiologia , Transtornos da Cefaleia Primários/etiologia , Hemorragia Subaracnóidea/diagnóstico , Hemorragia Subaracnóidea/diagnóstico por imagem , Serviço Hospitalar de Emergência , Cefaleia/diagnóstico , Cefaleia/etiologia , Estudos de CoortesRESUMO
OBJECTIVE: Atraumatic back pain is an increasingly common presentation to the ED. A minority of these cases will have significant structural pathology, resulting in acute cauda equina compression (CEC). Although clinicians often look for 'red flags' to identify potential CEC, the prognostic accuracy of these presenting symptoms and clinical examination findings is unclear. We sought to evaluate the accuracy of individual clinical features in a large cohort of ED patients with atraumatic backpain and reference standard imaging, for the diagnosis of CEC. METHODS: A retrospective case note review from 2014 to 2018 within an established ED atraumatic back pain pathway, undertaken at the largest tertiary spinal referral centre in the UK. We analysed routine data, collected prospectively by treating clinicians within a structured electronic health record clinical proforma. Data on signs and symptoms in 996 patients with suspected CEC referred for definitive MRI over a 4-year study period were extracted and compared against a final reference standard diagnosis. RESULTS: We identified 111 patients with radiological evidence of CEC within the cohort referred for definitive imaging (111/996, 11.1%), of whom 109 (98.2%) underwent operative intervention. Patients with CEC were more likely to present with bilateral leg pain (OR=2.2), dermatomal sensory loss (OR 1.8) and bilateral absent ankle or ankle and knee jerks (OR=2.9). Subjective weakness was found to be associated with CEC on univariate but not multivariate analysis. We found no relationship between digital rectal examination findings and the diagnosis of CEC. CONCLUSIONS: In our cohort, factors independently associated with CEC diagnosis on MRI included bilateral leg pain, dermatomal sensory loss. Loss of lower limb reflexes was strongly suggestive of CES (likelihood ratio 3.4 on multivariate logistic regression). Our findings raise questions about the diagnostic utility of invasive digital rectal examination.