Key result
Structured clinical assessment safely and effectively identifies the underlying cause of chest pain.
Why the study?
Chest pain is a common presentation requiring timely and effective identification of its cause, especially to detect urgent cardiac conditions such as acute coronary syndrome.
This article provides an overview of structured clinical assessment for identifying the cause of chest pain in emergency and primary care settings.
Supports structured assessment in chest pain evaluation; leaves open need for prospective validation before guideline updates.
Chest pain is a common reason for patient presentation to emergency departments and visits to primary care settings. While most causes of chest pain are not life-threatening, a small proportion require urgent intervention, particularly cardiac conditions such as acute coronary syndrome. Therefore, it is essential for healthcare practitioners, including nurses, to identify the cause of chest pain in a safe, timely and effective manner. This article outlines the main causes of chest pain and describes the aspects of chest pain assessment, including patient history-taking, physical examination and clinical investigations. Assessing chest pain requires healthcare practitioners to have knowledge of its causes and pathophysiology, the use of structured assessment tools and the latest evidence-based guidelines.
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George Stephens (2019) conducted a review in Chest pain. Structured clinical assessment was evaluated. A structured clinical assessment, including history-taking, physical examination, and clinical investigations, is essential to safely and effectively identify the cause of chest pain.
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