Acute Abdomen
While about 10% of abdominal pain presentations to the ED are surgical, there are a variety of abdominal pain presentations that have diagnoses outside the abdomen – so one needs to be thinking outside the box -
image by: Robystarm
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The Acute Abdomen
The ‘acute abdomen’ is defined as a sudden onset of severe abdominal pain developing over a short time period. It has a large number of possible causes and so a structured approach is required.
The initial assessment should attempt to determine if the patient has an acute surgical problem that requires immediate and prompt surgical intervention, or urgent medical therapy.
The first decision when you first see any patient is “Are they critically unwell?”. A 10-second assessment of their clinical state can be made by a general look (the “end-of-bed-o-gram”) and their observations.
Resources
Abdominal Pain Mimics: Pearls and Pitfalls
While the typical differential diagnosis for abdominal pain should include the usual suspects of intra-abdominal pathology based on location and associated symptoms, extra-abdominal mimics and rare conditions should be considered as well.
Abdominal Pain – Thinking Outside the Box
While about 10% of abdominal pain presentations to the ED are surgical, there are a variety of abdominal pain presentations that have diagnoses outside the abdomen – so one needs to be thinking outside the box.
Acute Abdominal Pain in Children
“My tummy hurts.” That is a simple statement that shows a common complaint from children who seek care in an urgent care or emergency department.1 But the diagnosis in such patients can be challenging for a clinician because of the diverse etiologies.
Bariatric Emergencies
Being familiar with the anatomy of these various procedures is essential to understanding the complications and why you cannot be reassured by a benign abdominal examination.
Pediatric Abdominal Pain
Pediatric abdominal pain is a common complaint evaluated in emergency departments (EDs). Although often due to benign causes, the varied and nonspecific presentations present a diagnostic challenge. Emergency care providers are tasked with the difficult job of remaining vigilant for the rare, yet devastating conditions while sorting through the much more common, benign causes of abdominal pain
Acute Abdomen
Signs and symptoms of abdominal pain a clinical picture that often requires emergency surgery therapy.
ACUTE ABDOMEN systemic sonographic approach to acute abdomen in emergency department: a case series
The ACUTE–ABDOMEN protocol was created by the authors to aid in the evaluation of acute abdominal pain using a systematic sonographic approach, integrating the same core ultrasound techniques already in use—into one mnemonic.
Assessing Abdominal Pain in Adults: A Rational, Cost-Effective, and Evidence-Based Strategy
The management of abdominal pain has changed significantly in the past 20 years, with increasing emphasis on identifying patients who are at high risk for occult pathology and worse outcomes.
Evaluation and management of acute abdominal pain in the emergency department
Evaluation of the emergency department patient with acute abdominal pain is sometimes difficult. Various factors can obscure the presentation, delaying or preventing the correct diagnosis, with subsequent adverse patient outcomes.
The Acute Abdomen
Wide array of pathologies that cause an acute abdomen, important to differentiate the urgent from non-urgent.
EM Board Bombs
Acute abdomen podcasts
EMRA
Abdominal pain provides unique diagnostic and pain management challenges, as the severity of illness may be unrelated to the degree of pain.
Oxford Medicine Online
The term ‘acute abdomen’ is commonly used to describe abdominal pain of recent onset requiring urgent surgical assessment.
StatPearls
An acute abdomen is a condition that demands urgent attention and treatment. The acute abdomen may be caused by an infection, inflammation, vascular occlusion, or obstruction.
WikiDoc
Acute abdomen refers to a sudden, severe pain in the abdomen that is less than 24 hours in duration. It is in many cases an emergency condition requiring urgent and specific diagnosis, and the treatment usually involves surgery.
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