Neurological patient care in Emergency Departments. A review of the current situation in Spain

Introduction: We are currently seeing many changes in urgent neurological care, in the context of the progressive development of the speciality and of the increasing population and care demand. Sources: Medline and documentation obtained from the Spanish Society of Neurology (SEN) were employed as m...

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Main Author: V. Casado
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier España 2011-01-01
Series:Neurología (English Edition)
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2173580811700475
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spelling doaj-16a272c6a43c411fa442723e29ef84af2020-11-25T01:52:44ZengElsevier EspañaNeurología (English Edition)2173-58082011-01-01264233238Neurological patient care in Emergency Departments. A review of the current situation in SpainV. Casado0Servicio de Neurología, Hospital de Mataró, Mataró, Barcelona, SpainIntroduction: We are currently seeing many changes in urgent neurological care, in the context of the progressive development of the speciality and of the increasing population and care demand. Sources: Medline and documentation obtained from the Spanish Society of Neurology (SEN) were employed as main data sources to review papers on the matter published in our country. We found articles describing neurological care in Emergency Departments (ED) of different Spanish hospitals, review articles, and others with neurological care organisational approaches. Development: Stroke, headache and epilepsy were the most common disorders seen in ED. Up to 10–15% of medical emergencies were neurological. Their frequency increased with age and has been increasing over the last decade. The presence of a neurologist 24hours a day, everyday, led to a significant reduction in hospital admissions and in length of stay, as well as other parameters of quality of care. Stroke has motivated many specific works that associate the presence of a neurologist in ED with an improvement in prognosis, quality of care and the overall cost of stroke. The SEN has repeatedly expressed its concern about urgent neurological care provided to patients, and it promotes a greater generalization of on-call neurologists in hospitals in our country. Conclusions: Urgent neurological disease is common, complex, and in many cases, potentially serious. The role of the neurologist in the ED is important for its optimum management. On-call neurologists, still absent in many Spanish hospitals, can improve both the quality of care and its efficiency. Resumen: Introducción: Asistimos a múltiples cambios en la asistencia neurológica urgente, en el contexto del progresivo desarrollo de la especialidad y del aumento de la población y de la demanda sanitaria. Fuentes: Empleamos Medline y documentación de la Sociedad Española de neurología (SEN) como principales fuentes de datos para revisar trabajos publicados al respecto en nuestro país. Encontramos artículos que describen la atención neurológica en urgencias de diferentes hospitales españoles, artículos de revisión, y otros con planteamientos de organización asistencial neurológica. Desarrollo: Ictus, cefalea y epilepsia son las patologías más frecuentes en urgencias. Hasta el 10–15% de las urgencias médicas son neurológicas. Su frecuencia aumenta con la edad y se ve incrementada a lo largo de la última década. La figura del neurólogo de guardia conlleva una reducción significativa de ingresos hospitalarios y de la estancia media, entre otros parámetros de calidad asistencial. El ictus ha motivado múltiples trabajos específicos, que relacionan la presencia del neurólogo 24 horas con mejoras en el pronóstico, la calidad asistencial y el coste global del ictus. La SEN ha expresado reiteradamente su preocupación por la atención urgente al paciente neurológico y aboga por una mayor generalización de las guardias de neurología en nuestro país. Conclusiones: La patología neurológica urgente es frecuente, compleja y en muchos casos potencialmente grave. El papel del neurólogo en urgencias es relevante para un manejo óptimo de la misma. La figura del neurólogo de guardia, ausente aún en muchos hospitales españoles, puede mejorar tanto la calidad asistencial como la eficiencia Keywords: Emergency Department (ED), Neurology, Hospital, On-call neurologist, Spain, Palabras clave: Urgencias, Neurología, Hospital, Neurólogo de guardia, Guardias de neurología, Españahttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2173580811700475
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author V. Casado
spellingShingle V. Casado
Neurological patient care in Emergency Departments. A review of the current situation in Spain
Neurología (English Edition)
author_facet V. Casado
author_sort V. Casado
title Neurological patient care in Emergency Departments. A review of the current situation in Spain
title_short Neurological patient care in Emergency Departments. A review of the current situation in Spain
title_full Neurological patient care in Emergency Departments. A review of the current situation in Spain
title_fullStr Neurological patient care in Emergency Departments. A review of the current situation in Spain
title_full_unstemmed Neurological patient care in Emergency Departments. A review of the current situation in Spain
title_sort neurological patient care in emergency departments. a review of the current situation in spain
publisher Elsevier España
series Neurología (English Edition)
issn 2173-5808
publishDate 2011-01-01
description Introduction: We are currently seeing many changes in urgent neurological care, in the context of the progressive development of the speciality and of the increasing population and care demand. Sources: Medline and documentation obtained from the Spanish Society of Neurology (SEN) were employed as main data sources to review papers on the matter published in our country. We found articles describing neurological care in Emergency Departments (ED) of different Spanish hospitals, review articles, and others with neurological care organisational approaches. Development: Stroke, headache and epilepsy were the most common disorders seen in ED. Up to 10–15% of medical emergencies were neurological. Their frequency increased with age and has been increasing over the last decade. The presence of a neurologist 24hours a day, everyday, led to a significant reduction in hospital admissions and in length of stay, as well as other parameters of quality of care. Stroke has motivated many specific works that associate the presence of a neurologist in ED with an improvement in prognosis, quality of care and the overall cost of stroke. The SEN has repeatedly expressed its concern about urgent neurological care provided to patients, and it promotes a greater generalization of on-call neurologists in hospitals in our country. Conclusions: Urgent neurological disease is common, complex, and in many cases, potentially serious. The role of the neurologist in the ED is important for its optimum management. On-call neurologists, still absent in many Spanish hospitals, can improve both the quality of care and its efficiency. Resumen: Introducción: Asistimos a múltiples cambios en la asistencia neurológica urgente, en el contexto del progresivo desarrollo de la especialidad y del aumento de la población y de la demanda sanitaria. Fuentes: Empleamos Medline y documentación de la Sociedad Española de neurología (SEN) como principales fuentes de datos para revisar trabajos publicados al respecto en nuestro país. Encontramos artículos que describen la atención neurológica en urgencias de diferentes hospitales españoles, artículos de revisión, y otros con planteamientos de organización asistencial neurológica. Desarrollo: Ictus, cefalea y epilepsia son las patologías más frecuentes en urgencias. Hasta el 10–15% de las urgencias médicas son neurológicas. Su frecuencia aumenta con la edad y se ve incrementada a lo largo de la última década. La figura del neurólogo de guardia conlleva una reducción significativa de ingresos hospitalarios y de la estancia media, entre otros parámetros de calidad asistencial. El ictus ha motivado múltiples trabajos específicos, que relacionan la presencia del neurólogo 24 horas con mejoras en el pronóstico, la calidad asistencial y el coste global del ictus. La SEN ha expresado reiteradamente su preocupación por la atención urgente al paciente neurológico y aboga por una mayor generalización de las guardias de neurología en nuestro país. Conclusiones: La patología neurológica urgente es frecuente, compleja y en muchos casos potencialmente grave. El papel del neurólogo en urgencias es relevante para un manejo óptimo de la misma. La figura del neurólogo de guardia, ausente aún en muchos hospitales españoles, puede mejorar tanto la calidad asistencial como la eficiencia Keywords: Emergency Department (ED), Neurology, Hospital, On-call neurologist, Spain, Palabras clave: Urgencias, Neurología, Hospital, Neurólogo de guardia, Guardias de neurología, España
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2173580811700475
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