Abstract

OJEDA TORO, Germán Danilo; ARIZA AGUILAR, Ludwing Oliver; MONTANA, David  and  PARRA, José Fernando. Approach to Dizziness and Vertigo in the Emergency Department. Univ. Med. [online]. 2022, vol.63, n.1, pp.115-123.  Epub Dec 30, 2021. ISSN 0041-9095.  https://doi.org/10.11144/javeriana.umed63-1.emvs.

Vertigo and dizziness, considered the first as a rotational illusory sensation and the second as an altered sensation of the senses not related to the sensation of movement, are frequent reasons for consulting the emergency room, having extensive differential diagnoses that include both benign and serious conditions. For emergency physicians, one of the main objectives is to differentiate and detect cerebrovascular diseases and critical conditions that require acute treatment among the majority of consultations that present as self-limited and benign conditions. The clinical approach should include the triggering factors, the intermittence, and time of evolution of the symptoms. It is important to be familiar with the use of clinical tests to differentiate neurological lesions of central and peripheral origin. In this article, a literature review was conducted on the approach to dizziness and vertigo in the emergency department, emphasizing the most important differential diagnoses. In the end, an algorithm (care path) is proposed to be implemented in a hospital with a fourth level of complexity, where the initial diagnosis and management will be carried out by the specialty of emergency medicine and general medicine.

Keywords : focus; dizziness; vertigo; emergencies.

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