Abdominal pain in the elderly.
Elderly patients who have abdominal pain remain one of the most challenging patient populations. Signs and symptoms of serious disease are often nonspecific. Atypical presentations are common in elderly patients. In addition, the higher incidence of serious pathology in this population requires emergency physicians to be vigilant and thorough in their work-up. Vascular catastrophes are more likely to be seen in this population, and a broad differential diagnosis needs to be considered.
Division of Emergency Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 110 South Paca Street, Sixth Floor, Suite 200, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA. jmatine@umaryland.edu
Joseph P
JP
Martinez
Amal
A
Mattu
D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D000368:Aged; D004630:Emergencies / Q000453:epidemiology; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006299:Health Services for the Aged / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology