Publication:

Clinical profile of acute abdomen cases at a tertiary care hospital

Background Abdominal pain is a common presentation in the outpatient setting and is challenging to diagnose. Abdominal pain is the presenting complaint in 1.5 percent of office-based visits1 and in 5 percent of emergency department visits.

Methods All patients with who present with acute abdomen including blunt trauma to abdomen and post-operative cases are included for study and those who give consent for study. A total of 50 cases were studied during the period.

Results Out of 50 cases 37 were due to non-traumatic abdominal pathology and 13 cases were caused by traumatic factor.

Conclusions Abdominal pain is a common presenting complaint in the Emergency Department and clinicians must consider multiple diagnoses, especially in those cases that require immediate intervention in order to limit morbidity and mortality.