The Evaluation of Electrocardiogram Findings in Acute Abdominal Pain Patients Admitted to the Emergency Department

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the diagnostic value of electrocardiogram in differential diagnosis of patients with nonspecific abdominal pain. This prospective observational study was conducted in a university emergency department over 2 weeks. One hundred twenty patients with complaints of abdominal pain were admitted to the emergency department. During the study period, a total of 120 cases were evaluated. The final emergency department disposition status of the 120 patients was 1 (0.8%) died in the emergency department, 28 (23.3%) were admitted to the general ward, 27 (22.5%) were admitted to other services, and 10 (8.3%) were admitted to the cardiology service and coronary care unit. The examination indicated that 38 (31.7%) patients with abdominal pain showed cardiac pathologies on their electrocardiograms; 3 (2.5%) patients with abdominal pain admitted to cardiology service had ST elevation, and 2 (1.6%) had electrocardiogram depression on their electrocardiograms. According to the results, the authors claim that the electrocardiogram played an important role in the treatment and diagnosis of patients presenting with abdominal pain in emergency medicine. For this reason, it was thought that emergency medicine specialists should understand the basis of the perception of abdominal pain and develop a focused approach to the initial evaluation of these patients.