TITLE:
Chest Pain in the Emergency Department: Causes and ED Disposition
AUTHORS:
Kirubel Gebreselassie, Marwa Eldik, Melissa K. James
KEYWORDS:
Chest Pain, Emergency Department, Chest Pain Triage, Chest Pain Outcomes
JOURNAL NAME:
World Journal of Cardiovascular Diseases,
Vol.15 No.7,
July
24,
2025
ABSTRACT: Background: Chest pain is one of the most common reasons to visit the Emergency Department (ED), causes of which include life threatening conditions that need to be identified and stratified early for admission. The objective of this study was to examine the most common causes of chest pain and predictors for admission at an urban, level 1 trauma center. Methods: A retrospective chart review of patients that presented to the ED with a chief complaint of chest pain over a time period of one month was conducted. Data was analyzed using SPSS 16 statistical software. Results: A total of 497 patients were included in the study, 254 (50.4%) were males and 207 (41.1%) were in the age group 45 - 65 years. About 358 (71%) of these patients with acute chest pain were evaluated, treated, and discharged from the emergency department, while 123 (24.4%) of them were admitted. The majority of patients were admitted to the Telemetry unit (80, 65%), and 28 (23%) to regular floors. The most common causes of chest pain in the ED were musculoskeletal-related (252, 50.0%), followed by gastrointestinal causes (58, 11.5%), cardiovascular diseases (45, 8.9%), pulmonary diseases (53, 10.5%), and acute coronary syndrome (both unstable angina and myocardial infarction) represented 48 (9.5%) of the cases. The causes of chest pain varied with age (p = 0.012), sex (p