Which labs???

I meant to look this up for you, but yesterday. A 49-year old man with indigestion is going to be evaluated for a heart problem first--ALWAYS. Indigestion can be mistaken as a GI p[roblem when it is really a heart problem. Once a heart problem is ruled out, then a GI cause is looked for. In looking through Nursing Care Plans: Guidelines for Individualizing Client Care Across the Life Span, 7th edition, by Marilynn E. Doenges, Mary Frances Moorhouse and Alice C. Murr and their care plan for Angina and CAD these are the diagnostic studies they have listed (page 64):

• ECG: Often normal when client at rest or when pain-free; depression of the ST segment or T wave inversion signifies ischemia. Dysrhythmias and heart block may also be preseent. Significant Q waves are consistent with a prior MI.
  
• 24-hour ECG monitoring (Holter): Done to see whether pain episodes correlate with or change during exercise or activity. ST depression without pain is highly indicative of ischemia.
  
• Exercise or pharmacologic stress electrocqrdiography: Provides more diagnostic information, such as duration and level of activity attained before onset of angina. A markedly positive test is indicative of severe CAD. Note: Studies have shown stress echo studies to be more accurate in some groups than exercise stress testing alone.
  
• Cardiac enzymes (troponin I and cardiac troponin T, CPK, CK and CK-MB; LDH and isoenzymes LDy LDz): Usually within normal limits (WNL); elevation indicates myocardial damage.
  
• Chest X-ray: Usually normal; however, infiltrates may be present, reflecting cardiac decompensation or pulmonary complications.
  
• PCO 2, potassium, and myocardial lactate: May be elevated during anginal attack (all play a role in myocardial ischemia and may perpetrate it).
  
• Serum lipids (total lipids, Lipoprotein electrophoresis, and isoenzymes cholesterols [HDL, LDL, VLDL]; triglycerides, phospholipids: May be elevated (CAD risk factor).
  
• Echocardiogram: Motion mode (M-mode) or two-dimensional (2-D or cross sectional) electrocardiography helps diagnose cardiomyopathy, HF, pericarditis, and abnormal valvular action that might be cause of chest pain.
  
• Nuclear imaging studies(rest or stress scan): Thallium-201: Ischemic regions appear as areas of decreased thallium uptake. MUGA: Evaluates specific and general ventricle performance, regional wall motion, and ejection fraction.
  
• Calcium scoring (also called coronary artery calcium scoring): Ultrafast CT scan that measures the amount of calcium in the coronary arteries. Elevated calcium scoring in client with other risk factors (e.g., family history, hypertension, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia) is an indication of some level of coronary artery disease (CAD).
  
• Cardiac catheterization with angiography: Definitive test for CAD in clients with known ischemic disease with angina or incapacitating chest pain, in clients with cholesterolemia and familial heart disease who are experiencing chest pain, and in clients with abnormal resting ECGs. Abnormal results are present in valvular disease, altered contractility, ventricular failure, and circulatory abnormalities. Note: Ten percent of clients with unstable angina have normal-appearing coronary arteries.
  

Labs for GI, if there is something like a gallbladder problem, would be CBC, serum bilirubin, amylase, liver enzymes (AST,ALT, ALP, LDH), prothrombin levels, stool for occult blood, BUN, creatinine and electrolytes.