title: Acute abdominal pain in the emergency department of a university hospital in Italy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Acute abdominal pain (AAP) is one of the most common causes of referral to an emergency department (ED), but information about its impact is limited.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objectives of this article are to define the prevalence of AAP among ED visits in a large university hospital and analyze its main clinical features.
  
  
  METHODS
  All patients admitted at the Sant'Orsola, Malpighi University Hospital of Bologna ED on 12 a priori selected sample days in 2013 were included. General data were recorded for each patient. A total of 192 clinical variables were recorded for each patient with abdominal pain.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During the observation period the ED assisted 2623 patients with a daily admission rate of 219 ± 20 (mean ± SD). Of these, 239 patients complained of AAP as their chief complaint at entry (prevalence = 9.1%). AAP prevalence was significantly higher in females than in males (10.4% vs. 7.8%; OR = 1.37; p = 0.021) as well as in foreign over Italian patients (13.2% vs. 8.5%; OR = 1.64; p = 0.007). The most frequent ED operative diagnoses were non-specific abdominal pain (n = 86, 36.0%) and gastrointestinal (GI) tract-related pain (n = 79, 33.1%; n = 19 upper GI, n = 60 lower GI).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  AAP is a common cause of referral at EDs. Despite technological advances, non-specific abdominal pain is still the main operative diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences (DIMEC), Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Nicolò
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Caporale
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences (DIMEC), Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio Maria
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Morselli-Labate
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences (DIMEC), Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nardi
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences (DIMEC), Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Rosanna
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cogliandro
authors.affiliation: Emergency department of Sant'Orsola, Malpighi University Hospital, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cavazza
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences (DIMEC), Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Stanghellini
keywords: Abdominal pain; emergency care; epidemiology; gastroenterology