Chest pain is one of the many symptoms we see here in the emergency room and it’s a very complicated and often times fear-invoking symptom to suffer. On top of it being complicated, there is such a high risk of life-altering or life-ending complications that can relate to it.
Potential sources of chest pain can include things such as cardiac abnormalities, lung disease, gastrointestinal illnesses, or even musculoskeletal complaints, but the importance is differentiating from which one it is because obviously the treatment for each one is going to be different, and the outcome for each one can be dramatically different.
We treat every patient as individuals so that we do the right work up for each one and we give them the right care. And that’s going to depend on their examination, their lab work, and any sort of radiologic testing that we have to do. Once we can pinpoint it or at least rule out certain diagnoses then we can start initiating treatment. And then make that tough decision on what’s the next appropriate step.
With the observation rooms that we have available, that might be staying in the emergency room for a period of time for observation and for the treatment and for the testing. But we also have a strong relationship with the hospitals in our area, along with cardiologists in the community, so that we can safely discharge patients home without an unnecessary hospital stay. And when necessary if the risk is high enough, then we can also transfer them to one of the many hospitals we have arrangements with in a timely fashion.
