Abdominal Pain Mimics




Emergency department providers have become skilled at triaging patients with abdominal pain requiring surgical interventions. Abdominal pain mimics, medical conditions that cause the sensation of abdominal pain without abdominal abnormality, continue to puzzle the best physicians.


Key points







  • •

    Emergency department providers have become skilled at triaging patients with abdominal pain requiring surgical interventions.


  • •

    Abdominal pain mimics, medical conditions that cause the sensation of abdominal pain without abdominal abnormality, continue to puzzle the best physicians.




As any emergency physician can attest, abdominal pain makes up a significant portion of chief complaints. Eleven percent of emergency department (ED) visits are attributed to abdominal pain each year. Fortunately, with improvements in technology and advancements in imaging, ED providers have become skilled at triaging patients with abdominal pain requiring surgical interventions. However, abdominal pain mimics, medical conditions that cause the sensation of abdominal pain without abdominal abnormality, continue to puzzle the best physicians. In this article, abdominal pain mimics, which includes diagnoses that cannot be missed, conditions that require urgent evaluation, and additional conditions to consider when broadening a differential diagnosis, are discussed ( Box 1 ).



Box 1





  • Metabolic



  • Diabetic ketoacidosis



  • Alcoholic ketoacidosis



  • Calcium abnormalities



  • Thyrotoxicosis



  • Uremia



  • Porphyria



  • Pheochromocytoma



  • Adrenal crisis




  • Hematologic



  • Sickle cell disease



  • Neutropenic enterocolitis



  • Spontaneous splenic rupture




  • Immunologic



  • Angioedema



  • Henoch-Schonlein purpura



  • Systemic lupus erythematosus



  • Polyarteritis nodosa



  • Food allergy




  • Infectious



  • Pneumonia



  • Tuberculosis



  • Lyme disease



  • Pharyngitis (Lemierre syndrome)




  • Toxic



  • Mushroom intoxication



  • Alcohol intoxication



  • Metal poisoning



  • Envenomation



  • Opioid withdrawal




  • Cardiopulmonary



  • Atypical acute coronary syndrome



  • Pulmonary embolism



  • Pneumonia



  • Congestive heart failure




  • Functional



  • Abdominal migraine



  • Cyclic vomiting



  • Irritable bowel syndrome




  • Neurologic



  • Herpes zoster



  • Abdominal epilepsy




  • Environmental



  • Heat stroke


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Dec 14, 2017 | Posted by in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Abdominal Pain Mimics

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