Medical Illness Simulating Trauma (MIST) syndrome: case reports and discussion of syndrome

Medical Illness Simulating Trauma (MIST) Syndrome is a clinical syndrome characterized by pain, discomfort, or the observation of a mass that is presented to the physician as the result of trauma. The underlying cause of the patient's symptom(s), however, is a medical condition unrelated to the trauma. The reported trauma may not actually have occurred and if it did, is only coincidentally related to the onset of symptoms, which bring attention to a previously unrecognized or ignored pain, discomfort, or mass. The incidence of MIST Syndrome is unknown. MIST Syndrome is distinguished from other conditions and syndromes presenting with histories that are inconsistent with subsequent findings by the lack of intent to deceive the physician or misrepresent the physiologic nature of the underlying medical condition. This syndrome can be a source of error or delay in diagnosis and treatment.