Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Dizziness, which is one of the common complaints of the emergency departments, has a broad differential diagnostic spectrum. The aim of this study is to examine the severe causes of dizziness requiring hospitalization and to discuss the diagnostic processes in light of the literature in order to contribute to the emergency department management of patients with dizziness.

METHODS

In this cross-sectional observational study, medical records of adult patients who applied to the emergency department of a comprehensive medical centre due to dizziness between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2017 were screened retrospectively. The frequency and demographic characteristics of patients with isolated dizziness and the causes of dizziness in hospitalized patients were examined in detail.

RESULTS

A total of 20,542 (2.3%) patients were admitted to the emergency department due to dizziness in five years. The median age of these patients was 51 (IQR: 37-65) and 59% were female. Of these, 326 (1.6%) patients were hospitalized, their median age was 64 (IQR: 56-74) and 54% of them were male. The most common causes of dizziness in hospitalized patients were central neurological (36.8%), peripheral vestibular (27.3%), cardiac (8.9%), and metabolic (8.0%) disorders and each were presented with subheadings.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

Benign vestibular disorders as well as serious systemic disorders are seen in patients with dizziness. The causes of dizziness, differential diagnosis processes, and epidemiological data examined in this study may be useful in planning optimized dizziness algorithms.