RT Book, Section
A1 Lee, Debra
A2 Cooney, Derek R.
SR Print(0)
ID 1126791935
T1 Gastrointestinal Emergencies
T2 Cooney's EMS Medicine
YR 2016
FD 2016
PB McGraw-Hill Education
PP New York, NY
SN 9780071775649
LK accessemergencymedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1126791935
RD 2023/09/29
AB Abdominal  pain,  vomiting,  diarrhea,  and  constipation  are  exceedingly  common  symptoms.  In  2007,  10.8  million  cases  presented  to  emergency  departments  with  gastrointestinal  complaints,  representing  9.2%  of  ED  visits.1  Twenty-one  to  forty-one  percent  of  these  patients,  despite  a  full  complement  of  diagnostic  testing,  leave  the  ED  without  a  clear  diagnosis.2  There  is  diagnostic  complexity  in  differentiating  benign  self-limited  disease  versus  serious  life-threatening  conditions  when  evaluating  these  common  gastrointestinal  complaints.  Patients  arriving  via  EMS  transport  are  more  likely  to  require  hospital  admission,  suggesting  that  EMS  providers  will  encounter  a  sicker  subset  of  the  overall  ED  population.3  Evaluation  of  these  patients  is  often  a  challenge  as  is  the  provision  of  education  and  medical  oversight  to  the  EMS  provider  and  system.