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If the abdominal pain is severe and unrelenting, your stomach is tender to the touch, or if the pain extends to your back, you should immediately visit the closest emergency department.
– Constipation or bowel gas
– Food poisoning
– Heartburn, reflux, or GERD
– Stomach virus
-Stomach flu
-Urinary Tract Infections
Because common conditions, like food poisoning or constipation, can cause abdominal pain, it can often be difficult to know when your symptoms require a trip to the ER. If you are having unexplained or severe abdominal pain, or if you are in doubt about the cause of your abdominal pain, it is always best to be examined by a professional. If your stomach pain is severe, chronic, or accompanied by additional symptoms, visit your nearest ER as soon as possible to receive a diagnosis and treatment.
Stabilization includes administering IV fluids, analgesics, and, when appropriate, antibiotics. Once a patient has been stabilized and a diagnosis made, appropriate definitive therapy can be initiated. Definitive treatment can be medical or surgical, depending on the primary cause of acute abdomen pain.
Blood clots can form when your blood doesn’t flow properly. If it pools in your blood vessels or heart, the platelets are more likely to stick together. Atrial fibrillation and deep vein thrombosis (DVT) are two conditions where slowly moving blood can cause clotting problems.
Blood clot symptoms will depend on where a clot forms in your body. Some people may experience no symptoms at all. Blood clots can occur in the:
– Abdomen: Blood clots in the belly area can cause pain or nausea and vomiting.
– Arms or legs: A blood clot in the leg or arm may feel painful or tender to the touch. Swelling, redness and warmth are other common signs of blood clots.
– Brain: Blood clots in the brain (strokes) can cause a range of symptoms, depending which part of the brain they affect. These clots may cause problems speaking or seeing, inability to move or feel one side of your body and sometimes seizure.
-Heart or lungs: A blood clot in the heart will cause symptoms of a heart attack such as crushing chest pain, sweating, pain that travels down the left arm, and/or shortness of breath. A blood clot in the lungs can cause chest pain, difficulty breathing, and sometimes can lead to coughing up blood.
Imaging tests for blood clots may include an ultrasound or CT scan. These tests can help doctors look for blood clots both in blood vessels and within tissues and organs. The treatment options for blood clots depend on a person’s overall health and the location of the blood clot.
Chest pain may be caused by angina or a heart attack. Other causes of chest pain can include indigestion, reflux, muscle strain, inflammation in the rib joints near the breastbone, and shingles. If you have doubts about what is causing your chest pain, see a physician right away.
Symptoms
–Intense pain radiating in the shoulders, arms, or jaw, particularly on the left side.
– Tightness, pressure, or a sensation of fullness in your chest
– Numbing in your arms or hand
– Difficulty Breathing
– Dizziness, weakness, nausea, or cold sweats
Chest pains doesn’t always mean you have had a heart attack, but the emergency room will test first because it is potentially the most immediate threat, or may also be a life-threatening lung condition. To evaluate
– Electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG). This quick test measures the electrical activity of the heart. Sticky patches (electrodes) are placed on the chest and sometimes the arms and legs. Wires connect the electrodes to a computer, which displays the test results. An ECG can show if the heart is beating too fast, too slow or not at all. Because injured heart muscle doesn’t conduct electrical signals in a typical pattern, the ECG may show that you have had or are having a heart attack.
Hypoglycemia happens when blood sugar levels are too low. Without treatment, such low levels of blood sugar can lead to seizures and become life-threatening. Hypoglycemia can occur for many reasons, but, in diabetes, it usually stems from the use of insulin or other medications that control blood sugar.
Blood sugar levels may drop dangerously low when a person:
– Takes more insulin than they need for their current food intake or exercise levels
– Consumes too much alcohol
– Misses or delays meals
– Does more exercise than they expected to do
Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) occurs when the body does not have enough insulin to allow glucose to enter the cells properly.
The cells do not have enough glucose to use for energy, so, instead, the body breaks down fat for fuel.
When this happens, the body produces substances known as ketones. High levels of ketones are toxic because they can raise the acidity levels of the blood.
Reasons why DKA might happen include:
low insulin levels, due to not taking insulin or because another factor stops the insulin from working correctly
not eating enough
having an insulin reaction
People with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes can develop DKA.
Warning signs
The warning signs include:
feeling thirsty or having a dry mouth
frequent urination
fatigue
dry or flushed skin
nausea, vomiting, or abdominal pain
difficulty focusing
confusion
difficulty breathing
a fruity smell on the breath
If you have signs and symptoms of diabetic ketoacidosis or hyperglycemic hyperosmolar state, you may be treated in the emergency room or admitted to the hospital. Emergency treatment can lower your blood sugar to a normal range. Treatment usually includes:
– Fluid replacement. You’ll receive fluids — usually through a vein (intravenously) — until you’re rehydrated. The fluids replace those you’ve lost through excessive urination, as well as help dilute the excess sugar in your blood.
– Electrolyte replacement. Electrolytes are minerals in your blood that are necessary for your tissues to function properly. The absence of insulin can lower the level of several electrolytes in your blood. You’ll receive electrolytes through your veins to help keep your heart, muscles and nerve cells functioning normally.
– Insulin therapy. Insulin reverses the processes that cause ketones to build up in your blood. Along with fluids and electrolytes, you’ll receive insulin therapy — usually through a vein.
As your body chemistry returns to normal, your doctor will consider what may have triggered the severe hyperglycemia. Depending on the circumstances, you may need additional evaluation and treatment.
If your doctor suspects a bacterial infection, he or she may prescribe antibiotics. If a heart attack seems possible, your doctor may recommend further evaluation of your heart.
A recent survey of American emergency rooms showed that more than 500,000 ER visits were due to a foreign body-related incident. (Source: CDC). From a child with a silver dollar stuck in the throat to an adult with a bug in their ear, most emergency workers have seen it all.
The type of foreign body and its location in a person’s body determines the symptoms experienced by a person. However, some of the most common symptoms include:
– Mild to Severe pain and discomfort
– Nasal drainage where the object was inserted into the nose
– Coughing, wheezing, and choking where the object got stuck in the airway
– Difficulties in breathing
Foreign bodies can be found on one’s skin, ears, nose, mouth, stomach among other body parts. The removal of these foreign objects often requires a symptom evaluation or body examination to identify the types of foreign body and where it is located. Removing foreign objects from the body can be a simple or complicated process depending on the type of object and how deeply lodged it is. Doctors do not necessarily need to conduct surgery to remove a foreign body because they can pull or dig them out using suction machines, tweezers, or magnets.
Head injuries are taken very seriously in the medical community, involving trauma to the scalp, skull, or brain. Head injuries can lead to serious mental issues, disabilities, or even death. The most common causes of head injury are Falls, Physical Violence, Sports Incidents, Blast injuries due to explosions, child abuse, or simply being struck by an object.
Not every head injury requires a trip to the ER. But if you sustain a head injury with any of the following symptoms, you should be seen in an emergency room:
– Loss of consciousness at the time of the injury
– Confusion or disorientation after the injury
– A headache along with nausea and/or vomiting
– Evidence of deteriorating mental status-
Also, if you experience any of these symptoms within 24 hours of a head injury, you need to go to the emergency room, even if you felt okay at the time of injury.
Any individual who suffers a head injury followed by any of these severe symptoms should be evaluated in an emergency room:
– Unusual behavior or confusion
– Progressive or worsening symptoms
– Weakness, numbness, slurred speech
– Difficulty with eye movements
– Worsening or severe headache
– Seizure
– Vomiting multiple times
– Difficulty waking up or arousing
– Discharge of clear fluid or blood from the nose or ears
Anyone taken to an emergency room with a head injury will be given basic neurological tests and may have neuroimaging tests such as a CT scan. A concussion does not cause structural damage to the brain, so these scans are used primarily to rule out a more severe injury, especially bleeding inside the skull. If the scans show visible damage, the diagnosis is usually “mild traumatic brain injury” (TBI). If the scans show no visible injury, the patient will be evaluated for a concussion.
Since there’s no simple test for diagnosing a concussion, the process takes several steps:
– Interview to document the extent of any retrograde amnesia (loss of memory of the events immediately before the injury), loss of consciousness, or post-traumatic amnesia (loss of memory of events after the injury). Post-traumatic amnesia is the best indicator of a patient’s prognosis after a concussion, so this step is crucial.
– Determination of the range and severity of post-concussion symptoms on the field. There are several standardized scales
– Examination for any neurologic signs or symptoms: Tests of strength, sensation, reflexes, coordination, cranial nerve functions, mental status, and other neurologic functions to determine any serious injury to the brain.
More than just the cause of “terrible headaches,” migraine is a neurological condition that can cause multiple symptoms. While intense, debilitating headaches frequently characterize it, additional symptoms may include nausea, vomiting, numbness, and sensitivity to light and sound.
A migraine is a headache that can cause severe throbbing pain or a pulsing sensation, usually on one side of the head. It’s often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and extreme sensitivity to light and sound. Migraine attacks can last for hours to days, and the pain can be so severe that it interferes with your daily activities.
For some people, a warning symptom known as an aura occurs before or with the headache. An aura can include visual disturbances, such as flashes of light or blind spots, or other disorders, such as tingling on one side of the face or in an arm or leg and difficulty speaking.
Our Migraine Emergency Room is capable of infusing the same medications as outpatient infusion centers, but we have the ability to provide more advanced non-opioid treatments. Latest migraine studies show these medications to be incredibly effective, non-narcotic treatments that are not available on an outpatient basis.
Our Migraine Therapy:
– Provides immediate attention in a calm environment
– Ability to use more advanced migraine infusion medications
– Highly trained, specialized ER clinicians
– Has a 95% success rate with migraine relief
– Utilized by Neurologists throughout the metroplex.
Conditions that stimulate unusual electrical activity in the brain or damage the brain can cause a seizure. These may include:
– Epilepsy
– Stroke
– Brain or head injury
– Brain tumor
– Abnormal blood glucose or electrolytes
– Drug or alcohol overdose or withdrawal
– Genetic disorders and brain abnormalities
– Infection in the brain or the surrounding tissues
– Medication side effects
– Poisoning
– Psychological stress
Seizures are uncontrolled spasms or convulsions. They can be isolated events or a sign of epilepsy or many other conditions.
When should you go to the ER for a seizure?
– This is your first seizure.
– The seizure lasts longer than five minutes.
– You have multiple seizures in a short amount of time.
– The person is unconscious, injured or has other symptoms such as trouble breathing.
When you come to our emergency room with a seizure, our emergency physicians will give you anti-seizure medicine if your seizure lasts longer than five minutes or if you have multiple attacks. Frontline ER communicates directly with your Neurologist to ensure we are providing the best care for your seizure episodes
There are many possible causes of a sports-related injury; accidents happen all the time. However, the most common causes of sports injuries include:
– Poor training practices.
– Inadequate warming and/or stretching before and after physical activity.
– Not using the appropriate gear (footwear, safety equipment) for the activity.
– Overtraining.
There are two types of sports injuries,
– Acute – which is the direct result of trauma like a head, neck or leg injury during sports activity
– Chronic which is obtained during repetitive motions or overuse of a joint or muscle group. Tendonitis and stress fractures are common chronic issues.
If you are suffering from an acute sports injury, you should be seen right away these include:
– Fractures/Breaks
– Dislocations
– Concussions or Head Injury
– Cuts or lacerations
– Sprains or Strains
Some injuries are easier to diagnose than others, injuries which result in visible swelling, bleeding, and some fractures are easy to see, however, internal injuries such as internal bleeding, and concussions require the use of diagnostic machines.
For this reason, Frontline ER is equipped with the following:
– Ultrasound
– CT Scanner
– X-Ray
These are all non-invasive diagnostic tests that provide our emergency medical staff with accurate, fast and detailed information pertaining to the injured area, facilitating the correct diagnosis and best course of treatment for each patient.
Stroke occurs when the arteries that supply oxygen to the brain become narrowed or blocked, reducing or completely stopping blood supply to the brain. Ischemic strokes are often caused by a blood clot or debris of tissue carried by the blood. Hemorrhagic stroke on the other hand can be caused by uncontrolled high blood pressure (hypertension), anticoagulants, and/or weak spots in the blood vessel walls (aneurysms). Risk factors of stroke include both lifestyle factors (weight, diet, physical activity, smoking and alcohol consumption, etc) and medical conditions (high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, etc).
If you or someone you’re with may have a stroke, pay particular attention to when the symptoms began. Some treatment options are most effective when given soon after a stroke starts. Signs and symptoms of stroke include:
– Trouble speaking and understanding what others are saying. You may experience confusion, slur your words or have difficulty understanding speech.
– Paralysis or numbness of the face, arm, or leg. You may develop sudden numbness, weakness, or paralysis in your face, arm, or leg. A Stroke often affects just one side of your body. Try to raise both your arms over your head at the same time. If one arm begins to fall, you may be having a stroke. Also, one side of your mouth may droop when you try to smile.
– Problems seeing in one or both eyes. You may suddenly have blurred or blackened vision in one or both eyes, or you may see double.
– Headache. A sudden, severe headache, accompanied by vomiting, dizziness, or altered consciousness, may indicate that you’re having a stroke.
– Trouble walking. You may stumble or lose your balance. You may also have sudden dizziness or a loss of coordination.
When the worst happens, you can rely on Frontline ER to diagnose and treat stroke victims. Strokes can have severe, lifelong consequences, as they often limit oxygen to the brain. If untreated, patients may suffer brain damage and other disabilities, depending on the severity of the stroke. The team at Frontline ER is here to give you the care you need within the crucial four-and-a-half-hour period. We hope to reduce stroke after-effects and leave you with the best quality of life possible with quick treatment.
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