The American journal of emergency medicine
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Observational Study
Validating a pragmatic definition of shock in adult patients presenting to the ED.
The importance of the early recognition of shock in patients presenting to emergency departments is well recognized, but at present, there is no agreed practical definition for undifferentiated shock. The main aim of this study was to validate an a priori clinical definition of shock against 28-day mortality. ⋯ A simple, practical definition of undifferentiated shock has been proposed and validated in a group of patients presenting to an emergency department in Hong Kong. This definition needs further validation in a larger population and other settings.