Is routine pregnancy test necessary in women of reproductive age admitted to the emergency department?

doi:10.5847/wjem.j.issn.1920-8642.2013.03.003

Abstract

Abstract:

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to determine the necessity of pregnancy test in women of reproductive age admitted to emergency department (ED) in routine practice.
METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the records of patients who presented to the ED between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2010 and received a pregnancy test.
RESULTS: The median age of 1 586 patients enrolled into the study was 27 years. Of these patients, 19.55% had a positive result of pregnancy test. The most common complaint at admission was abdominal pain in 60.15% of the patients, and pregnancy test was prescribed. 15.83% of the patients with abdominal pain had a positive result of pregnancy test. Of the patients, 30.64% had nausea-vomiting at admission, and 11.52% had a positive result of pregnancy test. When other complaints were considered, the most commonly observed complaints were non-specific symptoms such as dizziness, malaise and respiratory problems. Of the patients, 70.93% were not remembering the date of last menstruation, and 9.51% showed a positive result of pregnancy test. Urinary tract infection (UTI) was commonly diagnosed with an incidence of 17.65%, which was followed by non-specific abdominal pain (NSAP) (16.77%) and gastrointestinal disorders such as gastritis and peptic ulcer (6.87%). Of the patients, 88.40% were discharged from ED, and 11.60% were hospitalized.
CONCLUSION: Pregnancy test should be given to women of reproductive age as a routine practice in ED in developing countries like Turkey.

Key words: Female, Emergency Medical Services, Pregnancy, Reproduction

Özlem Köksal, Fatma Özdemir, Erol Armağan, Nuran Öner, Pınar Çinar Sert, Deniz Sigirli. Is routine pregnancy test necessary in women of reproductive age admitted to the emergency department?[J]. World Journal of Emergency Medicine, 2013, 4(3): 175-178.

Figures/Tables 3

References 11

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Chief complaints	n	%
Abdominal pain	954	60.15
Nausea/vomiting	486	30.64
Vaginal bleeding	249	15.70
Dizziness	65	4.10
Malaise	43	2.71
Respiratory problem	15	0.90
Urinary tract complaint	36	2.30
Syncope	24	1.51
Trauma	17	1.07

Diagnosis	n	%
Urinary tract infection	280	17.66
Non-specific abdominal pain	266	16.77
Gastritis, peptic ulcer, etc	109	6.87
Cystic ovary diseases	102	6.40
Pregnancy	81	5.11
Abortus (A. imminens, A. incipiens, etc)	73	4.60
Dysfunctional uterine blood	72	4.54
Ectopic pregnancy	68	4.29
Acute gastroenteritis	62	3.90
Renal colic	49	3.10
Respiratory tract infections	33	2.11
Acute appendicitis	27	1.70
Pelvic inflammatory disease	19	1.20
Pelvic malignancy	19	1.20
Other	326	20.55
Total	1 586	100

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