Triage of Abdominal Pain in the Emergency Department

Evaluation of Triage Criteria for Abdominal Pain in the Emergency Department

The investigators aim to evaluate in a retrospective study the performance of the Swiss Emergency Triage Scale to identify at the door of the Emergency Department patients requiring emergent intervention.

Study Overview

• Status: Unknown
• Conditions: Abdominal Pain

Detailed Description

All patients are triaged at the door of our Emergency Department using the Swiss Emergency Triage Scale. Patients with abdominal pain may be triaged in two different emergency levels (level 2: medical evaluation within 20 minutes, level 3: medical evaluation within 2 hours). These levels are determined using a set of specific criteria.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the validity of these specific criteria in order to identify promptly patients with abdominal pain the will require an emergent intervention during their stay in the Emergency Department.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 4000

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Olivier T Rutschmann, MD, MPH; Phone Number: 28132 +41223728132; Email: olivier.rutschmann@hcuge.ch

Study Locations

• Switzerland
  • Geneva, Switzerland, 1211
    • Recruiting
    • Geneva University Hospitals
    • Contact: Olivier T Rutschmann, MD, MPH; Phone Number: 28132 +41223728132; Email: olivier.rutschmann@hcuge.ch
    • Principal Investigator: Olivier T Rutschmann, MD, MPH

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 16 years and older (Child, Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Adults (> 16 y) admitted with abdominal pain in the Emergency Departement of a primary and tertiary teaching urban hospital.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• >= 16 y
• abdominal pain as the main complaint

Exclusion Criteria:

• none

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Observational Models: Cohort
• Time Perspectives: Retrospective

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Patients with abdominal pain; Adult patients admitted to the Emergency Department with a main complaint of abdominal pain

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Emergency intervention	Emergency intervention is a composite outcome of: emergency surgical intervention or radiological intervention or emergent endoscopy	participants will be followed for the duration of hospital stay, an expected average of 2 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Time to medical evaluation	We will evaluate the delay between triage evaluation and medical evaluation. We will compute the percentage of patients evaluated within timeframe accordingly to the Swiss Triage Emergency Scale	participants will be followed for the duration of emergency department stay, an expected average of 5 hours

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University Hospital, Geneva

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: March 1, 2014
• Primary Completion (Anticipated): December 1, 2017
• Study Completion (Anticipated): December 1, 2017

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 12, 2013
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 13, 2014
• First Posted (Estimate): February 17, 2014

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): July 27, 2017
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 26, 2017
• Last Verified: July 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pathologic Processes; Pain; Neurologic Manifestations; Disease Attributes; Signs and Symptoms, Digestive; Emergencies; Abdominal Pain
• Other Study ID Numbers: SU_2013_2