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- Title
The impact of misdiagnosing Bell's palsy as acute stroke.
- Authors
Induruwa, Isuru; Holland, Negin; Gregory, Rosalind; Khadjooi, Kayvan
- Abstract
Idiopathic Bell's palsy can lead to a serious and, sometimes permanently, disfiguring and emotionally challenging facial palsy. Early diagnosis and treatment with corticosteroids are important, as they significantly improve recovery rates. Bell's palsy is a benign condition that should be diagnosed and managed in primary care. Patients who self-present to the emergency department should be managed and discharged without needing admission. We reviewed all patients referred urgently to our hospital with facial weakness and discharged with a diagnosis of Bell's palsy, to explore whether clinicians were confident in making this diagnosis at initial assessment and, if not, how often they sought a specialist opinion. Furthermore, we assessed the impact of its over-investigation and mistreatment on healthcare resources and the patients.
- Subjects
STROKE diagnosis; ATTITUDE (Psychology); DIAGNOSTIC errors; FACIAL nerve; FACIAL paralysis; HOSPITAL admission &; discharge; HOSPITAL emergency services; MEDICAL personnel; MEDICAL referrals; PATIENTS; PRIMARY health care; DISCHARGE planning; ACUTE diseases
- Publication
Clinical Medicine, 2019, Vol 19, Issue 6, p494
- ISSN
1470-2118
- Publication type
Article