Acute abdomen

Description

The “acute abdomen” is defined as sudden onset severe abdominal pain. Within this, there are large number of possible causes, including serious and life-threatening conditions, and therefore a structured approach is essential to ensure appropriate triage and timely management. Initial Assessment Any initial assessment for a patient presenting with an acute abdomen needs to identify whether this patient is acutely or critically unwell, that may require immediate surgical intervention or urgent medical therapy. A short assessment of clinical status can be made by a general look (the “end-of-bed-o-gram”) and their observations. Any unwell patient should be approached with an A to E assessment and be urgently resuscitated. Once the patient is appropriately resuscitated, further history and examination can be elicited. This will help further tailor the next investigation and management steps Wide array of pathologies that cause an acute abdomen, important to differentiate the urgent from non-urgent Routine bloods and initial imaging can help with aiding the diagnosis Management depends on the underlying cause, however ensure to start adequate resuscitation and early senior input

Objectives

Presenters

1. Dr. Ikunda Murimi
   Surgical Resident COCESCA at PCEA Chogoria Hospital
   PCEA Chogoria Hospital