Psychiatry and oncologic emergencies

The diagnosis and medical management of cancer patients presenting to the emergency department with psychiatric symptoms often present a challenge for clinicians. It is important to differentiate between primary psychiatric illness and psychiatric symptoms resulting from primary medical conditions, as their respective clinical presentation may appear quite similar, while their medical management could be vastly different. The goal of this chapter is to provide an overview of the diagnosis and management of the most common psychiatric emergencies encountered in the emergency department setting of a large cancer hospital. The second half of this chapter will address proper risk assessment and management of patients presenting to the emergency department who harbor passive thoughts of death and/or suicidal ideations with active plan and intent.