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. 2012 Feb;13(1):3-10.
doi: 10.5811/westjem.2011.9.6863.

Medical evaluation and triage of the agitated patient: consensus statement of the american association for emergency psychiatry project Beta medical evaluation workgroup

Kimberly Nordstrom  1 , Leslie S Zun, Michael P Wilson, Victor Stiebel, Anthony T Ng, Benjamin Bregman, Eric L Anderson
Affiliations

Medical evaluation and triage of the agitated patient: consensus statement of the american association for emergency psychiatry project Beta medical evaluation workgroup

Kimberly Nordstrom et al. West J Emerg Med. 2012 Feb.

Abstract

Numerous medical and psychiatric conditions can cause agitation; some of these causes are life threatening. It is important to be able to differentiate between medical and nonmedical causes of agitation so that patients can receive appropriate and timely treatment. This article aims to educate all clinicians in nonmedical settings, such as mental health clinics, and medical settings on the differing levels of severity in agitation, basic triage, use of de-escalation, and factors, symptoms, and signs in determining whether a medical etiology is likely. Lastly, this article focuses on the medical workup of agitation when a medical etiology is suspected or when etiology is unclear.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: By the WestJEM article submission agreement, all authors are required to disclose all affiliations, funding, sources, and financial or management relationships that could be perceived as potential sources of bias. The authors disclosed none.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Evaluation in a nonmedical setting. BARS, Behavioural Activity Rating Scale; ED, emergency department; PES, psychiatric emergency service.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Medical evaluation in the emergency department or psychiatric emergency service. FS glucose, finger-stick glucose.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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