Worldwide Chest pain is one of the leading reasons for visits to the emergency departments (ED). Patients will present with a wide range of signs and symptoms related to the numerous causes of chest pain. These causes may arise from pathology of any of the intrathoracic and abdominal organs.
The priority in management is to recognise and rule out life-threatening causes of chest pain. Patients with life-threatening causes for chest pain may appear deceptively well, manifesting neither vital sign nor physical examination abnormalities.
We shall review the causes of chest pain and an approach to the evaluation of these patients in the ED.