Diagnostic error in the Emergency Department: follow up of patients with minor trauma in the outpatient clinic.

Background: The Emergency Department (ED) is prone to diagnostic error. Most frequent diagnostic errors involved "minor" trauma. Our goal was to determine how frequently a missed diagnosis was detected during follow up and to determine the frequency and causes of primary missed diagnosis and diagnostic error.

[A man with a swollen ring finger].

A 30-year-old man visited the emergency department with a cut in his left forefinger. A coincidental finding during examination was a pre-existing swollen left ring finger. Radiography showed the formation of a new joint in the left ring finger after a volar dislocation of the proximal interphalangeal joint 2 years before.