Unexplained fever in the ED: analysis of 139 patients

This study examined consecutive patients with unexplained fever (UF) presenting to the ED to define their characteristics and to compare distinctive parameters between admitted and discharged patients. During a 3-month period, all adult patients presenting to the ED with UF were prospectively follow...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American journal of emergency medicine 2003-05, Vol.21 (3), p.230-235
Main Authors: Gur, Hanan, Aviram, Ronen, Or, Jacob, Sidi, Yechezkel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Age Distribution
Anesthesia. Intensive care medicine. Transfusions. Cell therapy and gene therapy
Anti-Bacterial Agents - therapeutic use
Biological and medical sciences
Blood pressure
Cardiovascular disease
Decision making
Emergency and intensive care: infection, septic shock
Emergency medical care
Emergency Service, Hospital - statistics & numerical data
Female
Fever
fever of unknown origin (FUO)
Fever of Unknown Origin - epidemiology
Fever of Unknown Origin - therapy
Follow-Up Studies
Hepatitis
Hospitalization
Hospitals
Hospitals, General - statistics & numerical data
Humans
Illnesses
Infections
Intensive care medicine
Israel - epidemiology
Male
Medical sciences
Mortality
Multivariate Analysis
Patient Admission - statistics & numerical data
Patient Discharge - statistics & numerical data
Physicians
Prospective Studies
Regression Analysis
Remission, Spontaneous
Sex Distribution
Statistical analysis
Studies
Survival Rate
Time
Treatment Outcome
Unexplained fever
Variables
Viral infections
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Description
Summary:This study examined consecutive patients with unexplained fever (UF) presenting to the ED to define their characteristics and to compare distinctive parameters between admitted and discharged patients. During a 3-month period, all adult patients presenting to the ED with UF were prospectively followed for 1 month. Of 139 patients with UF, 58 patients (42%) were admitted to the hospital, whereas 81 patients (58%) were discharged. Whereas most of the discharged patients had self-limited febrile disease and eventually recovered, the admitted patients had more unresolved fever, serious infections, or systemic diseases and a 5% mortality rate. The admitted patients were older, had more comorbidity, higher leukocyte count, and anemia, but not a higher degree of fever. Older age, comorbidity, leukocytosis, and anemia, but not higher degree of fever, should direct the decision toward admission of a patient with UF.
ISSN:0735-6757
1532-8171
DOI:10.1016/S0735-6757(03)00038-X