Keywords
pulmonary embolism
renal colic
urolithiasis
How to Cite
Abstract
Renal colic is a frequent cause for emergency admission. Despite its high frequency, patients with atypical lumbar and abdominal pain should not be too rapidly diagnosed with renal colic. Diagnosing pulmonary embolism can be challenging because patients rarely display the classic presentation of this disease. We report here the clinical case of a patient suffering from pulmonary embolism with symptoms similar to renal colic. This particular clinical case highlights the necessity for clinical suspicion of pulmonary embolism to be raised when examining a patient at the emergency department in order not to let patients with pulmonary embolism go undetected.
References
Beroud S. Embolie pulmonaire de présentation abdominale. Ann Fr Med Urgence 2016; 6:200-2.
Israel HL, Goldstein F. The varied clinical manifestations of pulmonary embolism. Ann Intern Med 1957; 47:202-26.
Righini M, Robert-Ebadi H, Le Gal G. Diagnosis of pulmonary embolism. Presse Med 2015; 44:e385-e391.
Gantner J, Keffeler JE, Derr C. Pulmonary embolism: An abdominal pain masquerader. J Emerg Trauma Shock 2013; 6:280-2.
Sharma GV, Sasahara AA, Mcintyre KM. Pulmonary embolism: The great imitator. Dis Mon 1976; 22:1-38.
Gulalp B, Giray TA. Pulmonary Embolus; Can be still missed easily! J Emerg Med Case Rep 2010; 1:34-36.
Broder J. Diagnostic Imaging for the emergency physician, Philadelphia: Ed. Saunders/Elsevier; 2011.
Pollack CV, Schreiber D, Goldhaber SZ, Slattery D, Fanikos J, O’Neil BJ, et al. Clinical characteristics, management, and outcomes of patients diagnosed with acute pulmonary embolism in the emergency department: initial report of EMPEROR (Multicenter Emergency Medicine Pulmonary Embolism in the Real World Registry). J Am Coll Cardiol 2011; 57:700-6.
El Khebir M, Fougeras O, Le Gall C, Santin A, Perrier C, Sureau C, et al. Actualisation 2008 de la 8e Conférence de consensus de la Société francophone d’urgences médicales de 1999. Prise en charge des coliques néphrétiques de l’adulte dans les services d’accueil et d’urgences. Prog Urol 2009; 19:462-73.
Carter MR, Green BR. Renal calculi: emergency department diagnosis and treatment. Emerg Med Pract 2011; 13:1-17.
Konstantinides S, Torbicki A, Agnelli G, Danchin N, Fitzmaurice D, Galiè N, et al. 2014 ESC Guidelines on the diagnosis and management of acute pulmonary embolism. Eur Heart J 2014; 35:3033-69.
Ozsu S, Oztuna F, Bulbul Y, Topbas M, Ozlu T, Kosucu P, et al. The role of risk factors in delayed diagnosis of pulmonary embolism. Am J Emerg Med 2011; 29:26-32.