Clinical Strategies – Chest Pain

Chest pain is defined as the painful sensation that is classically felt in the front part of one's body, between the neck and the upper abdomen. It can have many causes that range from life-threatening conditions such as myocardial infarction and aortic dissection, to more benign conditions such as indigestion, heartburn, and gastroesophageal reflux, costochondritis, and muscular aches. Back pain may also reflect significant chest disease such as pulmonary embolism, pleurisy, and aortic dissection, while also sometimes reflecting abdominal disease such as cholecystitis and kidney stones.

If you would like to learn more about chest pain, visit the Learning Center at: Learning Center

This tutorial is a comprehensive review of chest pain. After completion of this tutorial, the learner will understand the various causes of chest pain, the characteristic clinical presentations, the general approach to management as well as the usual diagnostic algorithm, procedures and imaging studies that are performed.