BMJ Blog - 19 May, 16 - By cgray
"The Royal College of Emergency Medicine in the UK has today published new guidelines (PDF) on the management of acute behavioural disturbance (ABD) in the emergency department. This follows a year after NICE guidance was released on the management of violence and aggression, but focuses specifically on ABD. The guidelines have been published in conjunction with the Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine.
ABD is a medical emergency, comprising acute delirium in conjunction with autonomic dysfunction. Sudden death occurs in around 10% of presentations. It can be challenging clinically as there is no definitive diagnostic investigation, and symptoms can overlap with multiple severe and life-threatening presentations such as serotonin syndrome and heat stroke..."