Referral to emergency

If any of the following are present or suspected, please refer the patient to the emergency department (via ambulance if necessary) or seek emergent medical advice if in a remote region.

  • acute aortic dissection
  • ruptured AAA
  • symptomatic AAA (abdominal, back pain, tenderness, compressive symptoms, distal embolisation)
  • thoracic aneurysm with chest/back pain
  • AAA ≥ 7 cm: please contact on call registrar to discuss clinical concerns

It is strongly advised that after hours presentations attend the Royal Adelaide Hospital or Flinders Medical Centre emergency departments.

For clinical advice, please telephone the relevant specialty service.

Central Adelaide Local Health Network

Southern Adelaide Local Health Network

Category 1 — appointment clinically indicated within 30 days

  • AAA ≥ 5cm
  • thoracic aneurysm ≥ 5cm
  • rapidly expanding AAA (same modality of examination) ≥ 1 cm per year

Category 2 — appointment clinically indicated within 90 days

  • AAA ≤ 5cm
  • thoracic aneurysm ≤ 5cm

Category 3 — appointment clinically indicated within 365 days

  • nil

Essential referral information

Completion required before first appointment to ensure patients are ready for care. Please indicate in the referral if the patient is unable to access mandatory tests or investigations as they incur a cost or are unavailable locally.

  • complete past medical history
  • current medication list
  • smoking/vaping status - if active, strongly consider referral for smoking/vaping cessation
  • body mass index (BMI)
  • aneurysm diameter size
  • abdominal ultrasound OR imaging report confirming findings, include location and accession number

Additional information to assist triage categorisation

  • complete blood count (CBE)
  • urea, electrolytes and creatinine (UEC)
  • liver function tests (LFT)
  • estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR)
  • glycated haemoglobin test (HbA1c)

Reason for request

  • to establish a diagnosis
  • for treatment or intervention
  • for advice and management
  • for specialist to take over management
  • for a specified test/investigation the General Practitioner cannot order
  • for other reason (e.g. rapidly accelerating disease progression)
  • transfer of care from another tertiary service
  • clinical judgement indicates a referral for specialist review is necessary.

Patient demographic details

  • full name, including aliases
  • date of birth
  • residential and postal address
  • telephone contact number/s – home, mobile and alternative
  • Medicare number, where eligible
  • name of the parent or caregiver, if appropriate
  • preferred language and interpreter requirements
  • identifies as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander

Clinical modifiers

  • impact on employment
  • impact on education
  • impact on home
  • impact on activities of daily living
  • impact on ability to care for others
  • impact on personal frailty or safety
  • identifies as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander

Other relevant information

  • Willingness to have surgery, where surgery is a likely intervention.
  • Choice to be treated as a public or private patient.
  • Compensable status, e.g. DVA, Work Cover, Motor Vehicle Insurance, etc.
  • Relevant social history, including identifying if you feel your patient is from a vulnerable population, under guardianship/out-of-home care arrangements and/or requires a third party to receive correspondence on their behalf.
  • Triage of a specialist outpatient referral is based on clinical decision making to allocate an appropriate urgency categorisation.
  • Where appropriate and where available, the referral may be streamed to an associated public allied health and/or nursing service. Access to some specific services may include initial assessment and management by associated public allied health and/or nursing, which may either facilitate or negate the need to see the public medical specialist.
  • A change in patient circumstance (such as condition deteriorating or pregnancy) may affect the urgency categorisation and should be communicated as soon as possible.
  • All new referrals will be triaged by a consultant and appointment times scheduled according to clinical urgency.