DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF ACUTE ADRENAL CRISIS IN THE SETTING OF THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT - A LITERATURE REVIEW
Abstract
Introduction and objective: Acute adrenal crisis (AAC) is a life-threatening condition, often under-recognized due to its rarity. Over the years, technological advances have occurred across many branches of medicine, including new solutions for diagnosing and treating AAC. However, they remain fragmented across the literature. In this review, we sought to systematically evaluate and summarize contemporary innovations that may help emergency medicine practitioners to be more confident in their diagnoses and, therefore, make more confident under-pressure clinical decisions.
Review Methods: We searched the PubMed and Google Scholar databases, focusing on papers published between 2020 and 2025.
Brief description of knowledge: Currently, AAC is treated empirically with hydrocortisone. Quick tests for cortisol levels are not widely available; diagnosis is based mainly on clinical symptoms and electrolyte disturbances.
Summary: Developments in diagnostic approaches, such as saliva-based, aptamer-based point-of-care cortisol assays, may aid differential diagnosis of AAC in emergency departments (EDs) and reduce time to hydrocortisone administration.
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