RESUMEN

Introducción. La afección musculoesquelética atraumática (AMA) genera gran carga asistencial en los servicios sanitarios a nivel de atención primaria, sin embargo, son escasos los estudios europeos diseñados para determinar su proporción dentro de los servicios de urgencias. Nuestro objetivo es determinar la prevalencia de AMA y su impacto asistencial y administrativo en el funcionamiento del servicio de urgencias de un hospital universitario de Madrid. Material y método. Se revisaron 2.000 historias clínicas electrónicas aleatorizadas entre 2008-2010. Se recogieron los motivos de consulta, el tiempo consumido hasta el alta desde la primera valoración, la demanda de pruebas de imagen y la necesidad de nuevas valoraciones antes de trascurrido el primer mes de la valoración inicial. Resultados. La prevalencia de AMA fue del 13,8% IC 95% (12,1-15,4%) de todos los pacientes. El motivo más frecuente de consulta fue la lumbalgia. De todos los casos de AMA valorados, en el 79,1% se solicitó una prueba de imagen. Los pacientes con AMA consumieron una media de 79 min y un 17% de los pacientes consultaron por el mismo motivo en menos de 30 días. Conclusiones. Los resultados del presente estudio ubican a la AMA en el primer lugar de los motivos de consulta urgente en nuestro medio, generando el más alto consumo de tiempo y la mayor frecuencia de consultas nuevas por el mismo motivo en menos de un mes. La falta de formación médica en el manejo de este tipo de afecciones puede ser causa de este fenómeno. Durante el diseño de líneas estratégicas para optimizar la atención en los servicios de urgencias se debe tener en cuenta la importancia de este tipo de procesos patológicos (AU)

Background. Non-traumatic musculoskeletal pathology (NTMP) generates a high healthcare demand in primary care, however, European studies designed to assess its real impact in Emergency Departments are scarce. The present study aims to determine the prevalence of NTMP and its impact in Emergency Department of a university hospital in Madrid. Material and method. Two thousand randomized medical registries were reviewed from 2008 to 2011. The epidemiological data collected were, main complaints, time consumed, image test requests, and need of further assessment within a month. Results. Prevalence of NTMP was 13.8% (95% CI; 12.1%-15.4%) of all patients. The most frequent musculoskeletal complaint was lumbar pain. An imaging test was requested in 79.1% of all the NTMP cases assessed. Patients with NTMP consumed an average of 79 minutes, with 17% of them requesting a new urgent assessment within the first month. Conclusions. The results of this study show that NTMP is the leading cause for emergency department visits in our area, producing the highest consumption of time and the highest frequency of new queries for the same reason within a month. The overuse of the emergency services and the lack of medical training in the management of this type of pathology can cause this phenomenon. During the design of strategies to optimize patients care in emergency departments, the importance of this type of pathology should be taken into account (AU)

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RESUMEN

BACKGROUND: Non-traumatic musculoskeletal pathology (NTMP) generates a high healthcare demand in primary care, however, European studies designed to assess its real impact in Emergency Departments are scarce. The present study aims to determine the prevalence of NTMP and its impact in Emergency Department of a university hospital in Madrid. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Two thousand randomized medical registries were reviewed from 2008 to 2011. The epidemiological data collected were, main complaints, time consumed, image test requests, and need of further assessment within a month. RESULTS: Prevalence of NTMP was 13.8% (95% CI; 12.1%-15.4%) of all patients. The most frequent musculoskeletal complaint was lumbar pain. An imaging test was requested in 79.1% of all the NTMP cases assessed. Patients with NTMP consumed an average of 79 minutes, with 17% of them requesting a new urgent assessment within the first month. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study show that NTMP is the leading cause for emergency department visits in our area, producing the highest consumption of time and the highest frequency of new queries for the same reason within a month. The overuse of the emergency services and the lack of medical training in the management of this type of pathology can cause this phenomenon. During the design of strategies to optimize patients care in emergency departments, the importance of this type of pathology should be taken into account.

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