Acute abdomen: Difference between revisions

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'''Acute abdomen''' is the name of the clinical presentation where a patient has acute onset abdominal pain. There’s a large number of conditions which can cause acute abdomen, and so knowing the differential diagnosis and investigations to distinguish them is important. The presence of typical risk factors, gender, and age for a specific cause can also help the diagnosis, and so knowing these is important as well. It’s important to remember that atypical presentations exist, of course. These patients should be examined systematically to identify the underlying cause.

'''Acute abdomen''' is the name of the clinical presentation where a patient has acute onset abdominal pain. There’s a large number of conditions which can cause acute abdomen, from harmless to life-threatening, and so knowing the differential diagnosis and investigations to distinguish them is important. The presence of typical risk factors, gender, and age for a specific cause can also help the diagnosis, and so knowing these is important as well. It’s important to remember that atypical presentations exist, of course. These patients should be examined systematically to identify the underlying cause.

== Life-threatening conditions ==

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|Patient with recent abdominal surgery or known hernia

|Abdominal distension, vomiting, absence of flatus

|-

![[Constipation]]

|Elderly patient, previous problems with constipation

|Abdominal distension, palpable faecalith, no bowel movements for some time

|}

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-'''Acute abdomen''' is the name of the clinical presentation where a patient has acute onset abdominal pain. There’s a large number of conditions which can cause acute abdomen, and so knowing the differential diagnosis and investigations to distinguish them is important. The presence of typical risk factors, gender, and age for a specific cause can also help the diagnosis, and so knowing these is important as well. It’s important to remember that atypical presentations exist, of course. These patients should be examined systematically to identify the underlying cause.
+'''Acute abdomen''' is the name of the clinical presentation where a patient has acute onset abdominal pain. There’s a large number of conditions which can cause acute abdomen, from harmless to life-threatening, and so knowing the differential diagnosis and investigations to distinguish them is important. The presence of typical risk factors, gender, and age for a specific cause can also help the diagnosis, and so knowing these is important as well. It’s important to remember that atypical presentations exist, of course. These patients should be examined systematically to identify the underlying cause.
 == Life-threatening conditions ==
@@ Line 186: / Line 186: @@
 |Patient with recent abdominal surgery or known hernia
 |Abdominal distension, vomiting, absence of flatus
+|-
+![[Constipation]]
+|Elderly patient, previous problems with constipation
+|Abdominal distension, palpable faecalith, no bowel movements for some time
 |}