title: Acute abdominal pain in children.
abstract: During a twelve-month period, 416 children with acute abdominal pain required emergency admission to Southampton General Hospital; 46% had operations. Appendicitis was the commonest organic cause of acute abdominal pain identified (31%). Constipation (9%) can present as acute abdominal pain simulating appendicitis. All children should have a urine sample examined microscopically and the finding of significant pyuria is suggestive, but not diagnostic, of a urinary tract infection (7%). Mesenteric adenitis, which can only be diagnosed with certainty at laparotomy, was less common (4%). Despite careful clinical assessment and follow up, 45% of children in this series remained undiagnosed. Sedation but not analgesia may assist in the diagnosis of the acute abdomen in children.
mesh_terms: D000006:Abdomen, Acute / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D000293:Adolescent; D001064:Appendicitis / Q000175:diagnosis; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003248:Constipation / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008640:Mesenteric Lymphadenitis / Q000175:diagnosis; D011776:Pyuria / Q000175:diagnosis; D014552:Urinary Tract Infections / Q000175:diagnosis