Abdominal Pain

Abstract

Evaluation of the elderly patient with acute abdominal pain is sometimes difficult. Various factors can obscure the presentation, delaying or preventing the correct diagnosis and leading to adverse patient outcomes. Clinicians must consider multiple diagnoses, especially those life-threatening conditions that require timely intervention to limit morbidity and mortality. This article reviews abdominal pain in the elderly, discusses the clinical approach, and highlights key diagnostic considerations.

Impact of CT in elderly patients presenting to the emergency department with acute abdominal pain

“…In the elderly, physical examination and history-taking are time-consuming and laboratory values may be unreliable [2][3][4][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. Moreover, many emergency medicine physicians are uncomfortable with physical examinations of the elderly [24], and the ED literature promotes early, liberal use of imaging.…”

“…Because elderly patients require more time and resources, they often have prolonged ED visits, longer wait times before seeing a physician and undergo additional laboratory testing [5][6][7]. The evaluation of abdominal pain in the elderly may be confounded by late and/or atypical presentation, limitations in history taking and physical exam, unreliable vital signs and laboratory values [8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. Furthermore, acute abdominal pain in the elderly is more commonly due to life-threatening vascular and surgical emergencies than in younger populations [4,[15][16][17][18].…”

Scoring systems in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis in the elderly

“…* Cut-off is included in positive classification; PPV: Positive predictive value; NPV: Negative predictive value. (a) (b) DISCUSSION Nearly half of the patients older than 65 years who present to the emergency department have abdominal pain, [17] and acute appendicitis is the third most common cause of acute abdomen in the elderly after intestinal obstruction and biliary disease. [18] The course of acute appendicitis is relatively unfavorable in geriatric patients, and perforated appendicitis rates are higher than in younger patients.…”

Abdominal Paın and Pıtuıtary Insuffıcıency Assocıatıon: Retrospective Case Series

“…Özellikle bu popülasyonda bu faktörler yaşamı tehdit edebilir. Bu nedenle özellikle yaşlı kişilerdeki karın ağrısına multidisipliner yaklaşmak hastanın hayatını kurtarabilir (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6).…”

“…Toplumda sık karşılaşılan bu durum acil polikliniğe başvuran hastaların %5-%10'unu oluşturmaktadır. Etiyolojide en sık saptanan nedenler apandisit, bilier kolik, kolesistit, divertikülit, bağırsak obstruksiyonu, organ perforasyonları, pankreatit, peritonit, salpenjit ve mezenterik adenit olabileceği gibi daha nadir durumlarla da karşılaşılabilmektedir (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6).…”