[Adverse drug reactions as cause of nonspecific symptoms in patients in the emergency department].

Background: In a large proportion of patients admitted to the emergency department (ED), the initial main symptom is nonspecific. One possible reason for this, especially in older patients, may be adverse drug reactions (ADR) due to their frequent polypharmacy.

Aim: To illustrate the incidence of ADRs, the affected patient population including risk factors, and drug classes with ADRs leading to nonspecific symptoms. To provide practice recommendations for the management of ADRs in the ED.

Material and methods: Presentation of the pharmacological principles on ADRs, statistics of pharmacovigilance centers as well as original literature including experiences from clinical practice and own projects.

Results: In 10% of patients with nonspecific symptoms an ADR is responsible for presentation in the ED. In 60% of cases these ADRs are not correctly identified in the ED setting. A small number of drug classes are responsible for most of these referrals. Databases, risk stratification, clinical pharmacists, or clinical decision support systems are available to improve ADR identification and management. As these options are partly associated with considerable costs or the validation for German EDs is missing, a widespread application does not take place.

Conclusion: Correct identification of ADRs in patients with nonspecific symptoms in the ED is necessary to initiate adequate treatment. These ADRs are often overlooked because processes and tools for identification and management are not applied in the ED, leading to a lack of awareness. For high-risk patients in the ED, the focus should be on drug history, ideally considering patient-specific risk factors and specific drug classes.