Stabbing in the chest More special emergency rooms

Stabbing in the chest: Experts want more special emergency rooms

01/14/2015

Every sudden minute of chest pain can count. Even though the pain can have several causes, most people think fast of a heart attack. Experts want more special emergency rooms to treat patients with unexplained chest pain faster.

Is it a heart attack??
With a sudden stab in the chest, most people automatically think of a heart attack. However, the pain can have other causes. For example, tension, respiratory, stomach and esophageal disorders can be felt as chest pain. Possible causes of the complaints are also lung diseases such as tuberculosis, pulmonary embolism and lung cancer as well as diseases of the cardiovascular system such as arteriosclerosis and coronary heart disease. In order to be able to treat people with unclear chest pain more quickly, experts want to set up more special emergency rooms, the news agency dpa reports.

Increased chances of survival for patients
In such facilities cardiologists will clarify possible causes around the clock and 365 days a year. As the cardiologist Thomas Münzel (University of Mainz) told the German Press Agency on Tuesday, the so-called breast pain centers are missing so far, especially in the eastern federal states and structurally weak regions. From the emergency treatment in such outpatient clinics, experts expect fewer sequelae and increased survival for patients.

Expand number of centers
According to Münzel, the goal is to increase the number of centers certified by the German Society of Cardiology (DGK) to around 270. This would take another two to three years. So far, there are about 200 recognized outpatient clinics, especially at clinics. An overview of the existing ambulances can be found on the internet. In these settings, patients with acute and sudden chest pain are right. It should be noted, however, that such symptoms not only occur in heart disease, but can also cause lung, esophagus or simply muscle tension.

Patients must be hospitalized shorter
The ambulances must meet certain requirements in order to be recognized by the DGK. For example, they must not be more than 15 minutes away from a cardiac catheterization laboratory: physicians can use a thin, flexible tube that is inserted into blood vessels to specifically examine the heart and coronary vessels in more detail. Since 2008, the DGK certified breast pain centers. According to her, initial international data indicate that patients treated in specialty centers may have to stay in hospital a little shorter on average. Accordingly, with targeted diagnosis and therapy would also reduce costs. The model is originally from the USA. Therefore, they are often in this country as well „Chest Pain Units“ (CPU). (Ad)