Abstract
This chapter focuses on the importance of the Observation Unit (OU) in management of patients with syncope/collapse. The designation “OU” applies to a dedicated area, generally located near the Emergency Department (EDOU), devoted to the evaluation of patients, including those with transient loss of consciousness (T-LOC) in whom a diagnosis has not been made during the Emergency Department (ED) process but in whom the clinical findings do not suggest an immediate life-threating condition, such as chest pain, severe headache, abdominal pain. In some hospital organizations, the OU can admit patients with diseases that need only a short acute treatment (e.g., acute asthma). In some countries the OU are also termed Short Intensive Observation Unit, meaning that during the observation time an intense and in-depth clinical observation could be done. The OUs dedicated to the management of patients with syncope/collapse are called Syncope Observation Units (SOU). SOU can admit patients with unexplained syncope/collapse at intermediate risk and many of those at high risk and, combined with the in-hospital Syncope Unit (SU), plays a strategic role in the modern efficient management of syncope/collapse patients. The SOU should have a defined syncope management protocol and a well-established organization and essential equipment for an intensive management of unexplained syncope.
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Abbreviations
- ED:
-
Emergency department
- OU:
-
Observation unit
- SOU:
-
Syncope observation unit
- SU:
-
Syncope unit
- EDOU:
-
Emergency department observation unit
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Casagranda, I. (2020). TLOC/Collapse: The Role of the Emergency Department Observation Unit. In: Brignole, M., Benditt, D. (eds) Syncope. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44507-2_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44507-2_13
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