July 21, 2016.
If “falling in the apple” is often harmless, these syncope can also be the sign of a much more serious pathology. To assess this risk, Canadian doctors have just created a protocol for rating the severity of the discomfort.
Sort patients admitted for syncope more efficiently
Syncope can be caused by many factors. Not very dangerous in most cases, they are nevertheless sometimes the sign of a much more serious health problem, which can lead to death. Until now, it has been difficult for medical staff to distinguish mild ailments from syncope to watch for closely.
To meet this need, Canadian doctors have just developed a protocol, called the Canadian Syncope Risk Score, which should allow emergency physicians to more effectively triage patients who are admitted after illness and to be particularly interested in the 10% whose cardiologists estimate that they could die of their underlying disorder (aortic stenosis, angina, myocardial infarction, arterial hypertension etc.) in the year following the malaise. They will also be able to urgently admit the 0.7% who, according to statistics, have a high risk of death within two to four weeks of their accident.
A protocol adopted in several hospitals
The protocol created by these Canadian doctors allows medical staff to assess a patient’s condition, based on a scale that will assess the severity of syncope. Doctors give their patient a score between -3 and +11. The lower the score, the lower the risk for the patient. When the score is high, the patient should be kept under surveillance. According to figures from Canadian doctors, a patient with a score of -3 has less than 1% chance of having an accident as a result of their discomfort. On the other hand, when the score reaches its highest level (+11), the patient has an 83.6% risk of having a serious accident in the days or weeks that follow.
This new protocol, the first results of which were published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, has been adopted in several Canadian hospitals where it has already proved its worth.
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