NON-TRAUMATIC ACUTE ABDOMEN: IMAGING EVALUATION
BORUT MARINCEK

Learning objectives - To become familiar with the most frequent causes of the non-traumatic acute abdomen - To select the appropriate imaging techniques in the diagnostic work-up of acute abdominal pain - To appreciate the growing role of MDCT for the evaluation of an acute abdomen The term “acute abdomen” defines a syndrome with clinical symptoms linked to (1) visceral distension or ischemia and (2) peritonitis. Plain radiographs of the abdomen serve classically as initial radiological approach. However, plain film radiography is often non-contributory. A study evaluating patients with acute abdominal pain showed that plain radiography was interpreted as non-specific in 588 (68%) of 871 patients, normal in 200 (23%), and abnormal in 83 (10%) (Ahn et al). In this study, abdominal radiography had 0% sensitivity for appendicitis, pyelonephritis, pancreatitis, and diverticulitis.

 

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