title: Abdominal exploration as a diagnostic procedure.
abstract: Diagnostic laparotomies performed during a five and a half year period in a 400-bed hospital were reviewed. Positive findings on physical examination, laboratory results, or x-ray findings were given one point each, making possible a range of points extending from zero to three for each patient. The number of positive laparotomies (those truly diagnostic) increased in a "linear" fashion with the point rating of each patient. No patients with a zero score had a laparotomy that was diagnostic, whereas 97 per cent of those with a score of three had positive laparotomy.
mesh_terms: D000005:Abdomen / Q000601:surgery*; D000008:Abdominal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis; D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019411:Clinical Laboratory Techniques / Q000592:standards; D003933:Diagnosis; D005260:Female; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D007565:Jaundice / Q000175:diagnosis; D007813:Laparotomy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D010146:Pain / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000401:mortality; D011379:Prognosis; D011859:Radiography / Q000592:standards