Non-traumatic Acute Abdomen Evaluation

The term “acute abdomen” defines a clinical syndrome characterized by the sudden onset of severe abdominal pain requiring emergency medical or surgical treatment. A prompt and accurate diagnosis is essential to minimize morbidity and mortality. The differential diagnosis includes an enormous spectrum of disorders ranging from benign self-limiting diseases to conditions that require emergency surgery. The clinical diagnosis of acute abdomen can be challenging because physical examination clinical presentation and laboratory examination are often non specific and non diagnostic. It is often difficult based on history and physical examination alone to separate these patients from those who require immediate surgery. The increased availability and use of computed tomography (CT) and Ultrasonography (US) have dramatically changed the clinical examination and treatment of patients who present with acute abdominal pain. These noninvasive imaging techniques have effectively replaced exploratory as the primary means of examining patients who present with what was formerly known as a surgical abdomen.