The use of baseline investigations in patients admitted from an accident and emergency department.
We studied the use of four investigations on patients admitted from our Accident and Emergency Department: full blood count, urea and electrolytes, chest x-ray and electrocardiogram. We found 1) that these investigations were performed on a high proportion of patients admitted 2) that a high percentage of these investigations yielded normal results. We suggest that a greater emphasis should be placed on clinical assessment, rather than the 'routine' use of investigations.
Nelson
E
E
Accident and Emergency Department, Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Dublin.
Gilmartin
D
D
Codd
M
M
O'Connor
P
P
D003955:Diagnostic Tests, Routine; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans