title: Duration of symptoms and follow-up patterns of patients discharged from the emergency department after presenting with abdominal or flank pain.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Little is known about the duration of symptoms and follow-up patterns of patients seen in emergency departments for abdominal or flank pain.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We aimed to measure the duration of symptoms and follow-up rate of patients discharged home from the emergency department after presenting with non-traumatic abdominal or flank pain.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a single-centre, prospective descriptive study of adult patients who presented to our emergency department with non-traumatic abdominal or flank pain and were discharged from the emergency department. We gathered clinical data during the index emergency department visit and conducted telephone interviews of subjects 2-5 weeks later.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We reached 63 of 90 subjects (70%). The median duration of pain was 3 days after the emergency department visit. During the follow-up period, only 41% had followed-up with their family physician or primary care provider, although an additional 21% had planned to. Persistence of symptoms was common in the 37% of subjects who did not follow-up.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Of subjects discharged from the emergency department after visits for non-traumatic abdominal or flank pain, most improve within several days. Fewer than half follow-up with a family practitioner or a primary care provider. Emergency department revisits are uncommon and often for unrelated problems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Justin B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Weiner
authors.forename: J Tobias
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Nagurney
authors.forename: David F M
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Swati
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sane
authors.forename: Andrew C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000175:diagnosis*; D000328:Adult; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005194:Family Practice; D005260:Female; D021501:Flank Pain / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010351:Patient Discharge; D011446:Prospective Studies