[Abdominal pain in emergency service--what should I not forget?].
Abdominal pain for the General Practitioner (GP) is an important problem and presents as a significant challenge since the complaint emerges to the primary care provider as one of the 3 most important complaints. This paper serves as a facilitator and guide in helping the General Practitioner differentiate between the so-called normal abdominal pain versus severe abdominal pain which should be referred to a specialist. One of the most important messages the paper attempts to convey is that patients have to be seen and personally examined by the General practitioner. This is a paramount feature in establishing course of severity and outcome. Since approximately 25% of all presenting abdominal pain complaints are unclear, even to the experienced specialist, the authors attempt to direct a focused exam by means of a thorough history and physical examination and then to formulate a decision tree regarding the question of referral or continued primary care by the provider.
Roggo
A
A
Notfallzentrum Inselspital, Bern.
Henning
P
P
Zimmermann
H
H
D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy; D003422:Critical Care / Q000379:methods*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods*; D010808:Physical Examination / Q000379:methods*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D011379:Prognosis; D012720:Severity of Illness Index