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Family Practice Vol. 21, No. 3, 314-316
Family Practice Vol. 21, No. 3 © Oxford University Press 2004, all rights reserved.

Duration of symptoms and follow-up patterns of patients discharged from the emergency department after presenting with abdominal or flank pain

Justin B Weinera, J Tobias Nagurney, David FM Brown, Swati Sane and Andrew C Wangb

Department of Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, a University of Michigan School of Medicine, Ann Arbor, MI and b Princeton University, Princeton NJ, USA

Correspondence to J Tobias Nagurney, MD MPH, Department of Emergency Medicine, Clinics 115, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit St, Boston, MA 02115, USA; E-mail: nagurney.john{at}mgh.harvard.edu

Background. Little is known about the duration of symptoms and follow-up patterns of patients seen in emergency departments for abdominal or flank pain.

Objective. We aimed to measure the duration of symptoms and follow-up rate of patients discharged home from the emergency department after presenting with non-traumatic abdominal or flank pain.

Methods. We conducted a single-centre, prospective descriptive study of adult patients who presented to our emergency department with non-traumatic abdominal or flank pain and were discharged from the emergency department. We gathered clinical data during the index emergency department visit and conducted telephone interviews of subjects 2–5 weeks later.

Results. We reached 63 of 90 subjects (70%). The median duration of pain was 3 days after the emergency department visit. During the follow-up period, only 41% had followed-up with their family physician or primary care provider, although an additional 21% had planned to. Persistence of symptoms was common in the 37% of subjects who did not follow-up.

Conclusion. Of subjects discharged from the emergency department after visits for non-traumatic abdominal or flank pain, most improve within several days. Fewer than half follow-up with a family practitioner or a primary care provider. Emergency department revisits are uncommon and often for unrelated problems.

Keywords. Abdominal pain, follow-up, natural history, telephone.


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