REMEDY : BNSSG referral pathways & Joint Formulary


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Hiccups

Checked: 23-10-2022 by Rob Adams Next Review: 23-10-2023

Overview

There can be many different causes of hiccups and initial assessment and investigation may help with diagnosis.

See CKS guidelines for advice on causes, investigation and treatment of hiccups including recurrent and intractractable hiccups.

For further advice on drug treatment of hiccups in palliative care please see the BNSSG formulary: GI symptoms - palliative care section or contact your local hospice team for advice.

Red Flags

If initial investigations suggest a possible underlying malignancy as a cause then use the appropriate Urgent Suspected Cancer ((2WW) pathway to refer.

Referral

If malignancy has been excluded and hiccups do not improve with initial treatment of underlying cause and management in primary care, then consider referral to appropriate specialty as directed by symptoms or abnormal investigations.

Requesting appropriate Advice and guidance may also be helpful.



Efforts are made to ensure the accuracy and agreement of these guidelines, including any content uploaded, referred to or linked to from the system. However, BNSSG ICB cannot guarantee this. This guidance does not override the individual responsibility of healthcare professionals to make decisions appropriate to the circumstances of the individual patient, in consultation with the patient and/or guardian or carer, in accordance with the mental capacity act, and informed by the summary of product characteristics of any drugs they are considering. Practitioners are required to perform their duties in accordance with the law and their regulators and nothing in this guidance should be interpreted in a way that would be inconsistent with compliance with those duties.

Information provided through Remedy is continually updated so please be aware any printed copies may quickly become out of date.