The last decade of symptom-oriented research in emergency medicine: triage, work-up, and disposition

As a result of the ever-increasing use of imaging and clinical chemistry, symptom-oriented research has lost ground in many areas of clinical medicine. In emergency medicine, the importance of symptom-oriented research is obvious, as the three major tasks (triage, work-up and disposition) are still under-investigated. Scientific progress is closely linked to the analysis of readily available information, such as the patients’ symptoms. A decade ago, there were more questions than answers. Therefore, we describe the state of the evidence and the importance of symptoms for decisions at triage, during work-up and for disposition. Recent advances in each field focusing on symptoms as predictors of outcome and/or diagnosis are shown. Finally, future directions of research regarding novel triage tools, efficient work-up and evidence-based disposition are discussed. Symptom-oriented research has been a driver for medical progress for centuries, and re-focusing on patient-centred clinical research will strengthen this field in the future in order to support smarter medicine.