Abdominal pain in the emergency department: missed diagnoses.

Maglin Halsey-Nichols; Nicole McCoin

Commentary

Abdominal pain in the emergency department: missed diagnoses.

November 24, 2021

Halsey-Nichols M, McCoin N. Emerg Med Clin North Am. 2021;39(4):703-717.

View more articles from the same authors.

Diagnostic errors among patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with abdominal pain are common. This article summarizes the factors associated with missed diagnoses of abdominal pain in the ED, the types of abdominal pain that are commonly misdiagnosed, and recommended steps for discharging a patient with abdominal pain without a final diagnosis.

PubMed citation

Available at

Related Resources From the Same Author(s)

Emergency department monitor alarms rarely change clinical management: an observational study.

September 16, 2020

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Emergency Department visits and patient safety in the United States.

August 26, 2020

Incidence of prescription errors in patients discharged from the emergency department.

September 22, 2021

Experiences of transgender and gender nonbinary patients in the emergency department and recommendations for health care policy, education, and practice.

July 21, 2021

The potential for improved teamwork to reduce medical errors in the emergency department.

March 27, 2005

Electronic medical record-based interventions to encourage opioid prescribing best practices in the emergency department.

September 30, 2020

Assessing resident and attending error and adverse events in the emergency department.

March 2, 2022

The effects of leadership curricula with and without implicit bias training on graduate medical education: a multicenter randomized trial.

May 18, 2022

The influence of the availability heuristic on physicians in the emergency department.

November 17, 2021

Increasing naloxone prescribing in the emergency department through education and electronic medical record work-aids.

April 21, 2021

The effect of implementing bar-code medication administration in an emergency department on medication administration errors and nursing satisfaction.

October 21, 2020

Nearly all thirty most frequently used emergency department drugs experienced shortages from 2006-2019.

April 27, 2022

Emergency department adverse events detected using the emergency department trigger tool.

August 24, 2022

Antecedent treat-and-release diagnoses prior to sepsis hospitalization among adult emergency department patients: a look-back analysis employing insurance claims data using Symptom-Disease Pair Analysis of Diagnostic Error (SPADE) methodology.

December 8, 2021

Missed acute myocardial infarction in the emergency department-standardizing measurement of misdiagnosis-related harms using the SPADE method.

August 19, 2020

Identifying errors and safety considerations in patients undergoing thrombolysis for acute ischemic stroke.

April 21, 2021

Reducing diagnostic errors in the emergency department at the time of patient treatment.

March 29, 2023

The emergency department trigger tool: a novel approach to screening for quality and safety events.

September 30, 2020

Pediatric musculoskeletal radiographs: anatomy and fractures prone to diagnostic error among emergency physicians.

August 3, 2022

Achieving the Institute of Medicine's 6 aims for quality in the midst of the opioid crisis: considerations for the emergency department.

January 10, 2018

Adverse events during intrahospital transport of critically ill patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

February 9, 2022

COVID-19: an emerging threat to antibiotic stewardship in the emergency department.

October 21, 2020

Emergency department discharge prescription interventions by emergency medicine pharmacists.

June 20, 2012

The safety of emergency care systems: results of a survey of clinicians in 65 US emergency departments.

March 4, 2009

Anatomy of a cyberattack: part 4: quality assurance and error reduction, billing and compliance, transition to uptime.

April 27, 2022

The accuracy of preliminary diagnoses made by paramedics - a cross-sectional comparative study.

October 7, 2020

SECUre: a multicentre survey of the safety of emergency care in UK emergency departments.

November 24, 2021

Accuracy of emergency department clinical findings for diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019.

July 29, 2020

Adverse events among emergency department patients with cardiovascular conditions: a multicenter study.

March 10, 2021

Prehospital naloxone and emergency department adverse events: a dose-dependent relationship.

November 25, 2020

Assessing experiences of racism among Black and White patients in the emergency department.

January 25, 2023

Disparate perspectives: exploring healthcare professionals' misaligned mental models of older adults' transitions of care between the emergency department and skilled nursing facility.

July 21, 2021

Impact of pharmacist interventions provided in the emergency department on quality use of medicines: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

March 8, 2023

Debriefing in the emergency department after clinical events: a practical guide.

December 17, 2014

Validation of an electronic trigger to measure missed diagnosis of stroke in emergency departments.

August 25, 2021

Systematic review of the impact of physician implicit racial bias on clinical decision making.

May 5, 2017

Making the business case for quality and safety.

March 23, 2022

Automated dispensing cabinet overrides-an evaluation of necessity in a pediatric emergency department.

May 25, 2022

Clinical reasoning in dire times- analysis of cognitive biases in clinical cases during the COVID-19 pandemic.

February 23, 2022

Voluntary medical incident reporting tool to improve physician reporting of medical errors in an emergency department.

February 17, 2016

When disasters strike the emergency department: a case series and narrative review.

November 10, 2021

The National Emergency Department Safety Study: study rationale and design.

January 9, 2008

Improving patient care. The cognitive psychology of missed diagnoses.

April 21, 2005

Improving discharge safety in a pediatric emergency department.

October 26, 2022

Usability study of two common defibrillators reveals hazards.

January 2, 2008

Intended and unintended consequences: changes in opioid prescribing practices for postsurgical, acute, and chronic pain indications following two policies in North Carolina, 2012-2018 - controlled and single-series interrupted time series analyses.

February 15, 2023

Tolerance of uncertainty and the practice of emergency medicine.

July 15, 2020

"Good catch, Kiddo"--enhancing patient safety in the pediatric emergency department through simulation.

December 9, 2020

Antibiotic prescribing errors in patients discharged from the pediatric emergency department.

March 30, 2022

Chief resident indirect supervision in training safety study: is a chief resident general surgery service safe for patients?

September 1, 2021

Adverse events present on arrival to the emergency department: the ED as a dual safety net.

March 11, 2020

Medication use leading to emergency department visits for adverse drug events in older adults.

December 19, 2007

Can a targeted educational approach improve situational awareness in paramedicine during 911 emergency calls?

June 8, 2022

Learning from diagnostic errors to improve patient safety when GPs work in or alongside emergency departments: incorporating realist methodology into patient safety incident report analysis.

January 12, 2022

Organisational crisis resource management: leading an academic department of emergency medicine through the COVID-19 pandemic.

October 7, 2020

Racial and ethnic differences in emergency department pain management of children with fractures.

April 22, 2020

Racial disparities in pain management of children with appendicitis in emergency departments.

September 15, 2015

Racial/ethnic inequities in pregnancy-related morbidity and mortality.

March 10, 2021

Systems science: a primer on high reliability.

October 17, 2018

Streamlining care in crisis: rapid creation and implementation of a digital support tool for COVID-19.

October 21, 2020

A diagnostic time-out to improve differential diagnosis in pediatric abdominal pain.

July 14, 2021

Early prognostic value of the medical emergency team calling criteria in patients admitted to intensive care from the emergency department.

February 6, 2008

Use of an expedited review tool to screen for prior diagnostic error in emergency department patients.

September 28, 2015

Failure to rescue following emergency surgery: a FRAM analysis of the management of the deteriorating patient.

February 2, 2022

How accurately do older adult emergency department patients recall their medications?

August 12, 2020

Cognitive biases encountered by physicians in the emergency room.

November 9, 2022

Keeping patients at risk for self-harm safe in the emergency department: a protocolized approach.

December 2, 2020

Addressing adultification of black pediatric patients in the emergency department: a framework to decrease disparities.

September 7, 2022

Racism in pain medicine: we can and should do more.

July 14, 2021

Retrospective review for medication dose errors in pediatric emergency department medication orders that bypassed pharmacist review.

March 25, 2020

Structural racism and impact on sickle cell disease: sickle cell lives matter.

January 11, 2023

Quality, Value, and Patient Safety in Orthopedic Surgery.

October 24, 2018

Analysis of risk factors for patient safety events occurring in the emergency department.

October 7, 2020

Association of low-dose whole-body computed tomography with missed injury diagnoses and radiation exposure in patients with blunt multiple trauma.

February 5, 2020

Antimicrobial Stewardship.

September 19, 2018

Addressing systemic racism in nursing homes: a time for action.

April 14, 2021

Missed and delayed diagnoses of non-COVID conditions--collateral harm from a pandemic.

August 5, 2020

What is the evidence that a pharmacy team working in an acute or emergency medicine department improves outcomes for patients: a systematic review.

November 2, 2022

Rate of sepsis hospitalizations after misdiagnosis in adult emergency department patients: a look-forward analysis with administrative claims data using Symptom-Disease Pair Analysis of Diagnostic Error methodology in an integrated health system.

May 12, 2021

Risk from delayed or missed care and non-COVID-19 outcomes for older patients with chronic conditions during the pandemic.

June 8, 2022

Integrating adverse event reporting into a free-text mobile application used in daily workflow increases adverse event reporting by physicians.

January 8, 2020

What is the medication iatrogenic risk in elderly outpatients for chronic pain?

June 1, 2022

Strategies for improving the value of the radiology report: a retrospective analysis of errors in formally over-read studies.

June 21, 2017

Deficiencies in provider-reported interpreter use in a clinical trial comparing telephonic and video interpretation in a pediatric emergency department.

October 14, 2020

Hospital acquired infections in surgical patients: impact of COVID-19-related infection prevention measures.

April 20, 2022

Racial and ethnic disparities in the treatment of chronic pain.

December 29, 2020

Prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes identified by a novel electronic medical record diabetes screening program in an urban emergency department in the US.

February 22, 2023

Honesty and transparency, indispensable to the clinical mission--Parts I-III.

December 15, 2021

It's like sending a message in a bottle: a qualitative study of the consequences of one-way communication technologies in hospitals.

October 13, 2021

Absence or presence: silent discourse in the operating room and impact on surgical team action.

November 11, 2020

Identifying risk in the use of tumor markers to improve patient safety.

May 4, 2016

Adverse events in emergency department boarding: a systematic review.

August 18, 2021

Ensuring primary care diagnostic quality in the era of telemedicine.

October 27, 2021

The effects of three consecutive 12-hour shifts on cognition, sleepiness, and domains of nursing performance in day and night shift nurses: a quasi-experimental study.

October 20, 2021

Structural racism and health inequities in the USA: evidence and interventions.

April 14, 2017

Critical events during land-based interfacility transport.

February 12, 2014

Patient engagement in the inpatient setting: a systematic review.

December 18, 2013

The nurse's experience of decision-making processes in missed nursing care: a qualitative study.

May 13, 2020

Patient Safety in Pediatric Emergency Medicine.

January 3, 2007

Reducing pediatric emergency department prescription errors.

June 22, 2022

Related Resources

WebM&M Cases

Verbal Orders and Medication Overrides: A Dangerous Combination

April 24, 2024

Journal Article

Study

Let us to the TWISST; Plan, Simulate, Study and Act.

April 10, 2024

Patient reasoning: patients' and care partners' perceptions of diagnostic accuracy in emergency care.

January 10, 2024

Overnight stay in the emergency department and mortality in older patients.

November 29, 2023

Preferred language and diagnostic errors in the pediatric emergency department.

November 8, 2023

Using in situ simulation to identify latent safety threats in emergency medicine: a systematic review.

November 8, 2023

Cognitive bias during clinical decision-making and its influence on patient outcomes in the emergency department: a scoping review.

October 25, 2023

WebM&M Cases

Walking Out of a Hospital After Attempted Suicide

September 27, 2023

WebM&M Cases

Delayed Evaluation of Abdominal Pain in an Elderly Patient.

September 27, 2023

Clinicians' insights on emergency department boarding: an explanatory mixed methods study evaluating patient care and clinician well-being.

August 23, 2023

Incidence and severity of medication reconciliation discrepancies in trauma patients.

August 16, 2023

Improving emergency medicine clinician awareness of prehospital-administered medications.

August 9, 2023

Deficiencies in Emergency Department Care for a Patient Who Died by Suicide at the John Cochran Division of the VA St. Louis Health Care System in Missouri.

August 2, 2023

"You just want to feel safe when you go to a healthcare professional:" intimate partner violence and patient safety.

August 2, 2023

In situ simulation as a quality improvement tool to identify and mitigate latent safety threats for emergency department SARS-CoV-2 airway management: a multi-institutional initiative.

June 28, 2023

The AHRQ Report on Diagnostic Errors in the Emergency Department: the wrong answer to the wrong question.

June 28, 2023

Patient safety in emergency departments: a problem for health care systems? An international survey.

June 21, 2023

The influence of personality on psychological safety, the presence of stress and chosen professional roles in the healthcare environment.

June 21, 2023

WebM&M Cases

The One That Got Away—Elopement of a Suicidal Patient in the Emergency Department.

June 14, 2023

Patient Safety Innovations

Remote Response Team and Customized Alert Settings Help Improve Management of Sepsis

May 31, 2023

I like what you are saying, but only if I feel safe: psychological safety moderates the relationship between voice and perceived contribution to healthcare team effectiveness.

May 24, 2023

Non-accidental Injuries in Infants Attending the Emergency Department.

May 17, 2023

Qualitative perspectives of emergency nurses on electronic health record behavioral flags to promote workplace safety.

May 17, 2023

A critical appraisal of AHRQ's "Diagnostic Errors" report.

May 10, 2023

WebM&M Cases

The Dose Makes the Poison: Medication Error During Procedural Sedation in the Pediatric Emergency Department.

April 26, 2023

Reducing diagnostic errors in the emergency department at the time of patient treatment.

March 29, 2023

Near-miss events detected using the emergency department trigger tool.

March 15, 2023

Crisis in the Lakeshore Hospital ER.

March 8, 2023

Misdiagnosis in the emergency department: time for a system solution.

February 8, 2023

Patient and hospital characteristics associated with delayed diagnosis of appendicitis.

February 1, 2023

See More About The Topic

Emergency Departments

Emergency Medicine

Emergency Nursing

Clinical Misdiagnosis

Abdominal pain in the emergency department: missed diagnoses.

Let us to the TWISST; Plan, Simulate, Study and Act.

Remote Response Team and Customized Alert Settings Help Improve Management of Sepsis

Connect With Us

Sign up for Email Updates

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Abdominal pain in the emergency department: missed diagnoses.

Let us to the TWISST; Plan, Simulate, Study and Act.

Remote Response Team and Customized Alert Settings Help Improve Management of Sepsis

Connect With Us

Sign up for Email Updates

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Submit Your Innovations

Continue as a Guest

Continue Logged In

Submit Your Innovations

Continue as a Guest

Continue logged in

New Users to the PSNet site