Low acuity abdominal pain in the Emergency Department: Still a long wait

Abstract 

Background

There are many pressures placed on Emergency Departments (EDs) and anecdotally patients with low acuity abdominal pain can spend a long time in ED waiting for treatment.

Aims

This paper examines the practices in two EDs in Melbourne, Australia. Firstly, the characteristics of low acuity abdominal pain presentations in each ED is presented followed by a statistical comparison of these characteristics in the two EDs in terms of administration of medication, taking bloods and the length of time patients waited to see the nurse and doctor.

A random convenience sample of 10 abdominal presentations was taken from medical records of each hospital from October 2006.

Findings

Comparing the two EDs in terms of abdominal pain presentations demonstrated no statistically significant differences in terms of patient characteristics. Low acuity abdominal presentations waited a significant amount of time for initiation of treatment such as initiation of analgesia and having bloods taken (on average 80–90min) and these delays negatively impact on overall treatment times (over 4h).

Conclusion

Low acuity abdominal presentations waited a significant amount of time for initiation of treatment. This convenience sample demonstrates the lack of a standardized protocol for abdominal pain presentations in the ED.

Keywords: Emergency Department, Low acuity abdominal pain, Waiting room treatment