• Robert S Green, Amin Kabani, Hanifa Dostmohamed, and Milton Tenenbein.
• Department of Emergency Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. rgreen@hfx.eastlink.ca
• Pediatr Emerg Care. 2004 Nov 1; 20 (11): 725-9.

Study ObjectiveTo determine the frequency of analgesic use in children (5 to 17 years inclusive) who present to a pediatric emergency department with acute abdominal pain.MethodsA retrospective medical record review of patients presenting to a children's hospital over a 1-year period with a chief complaint of abdominal pain and subsequently referred to the pediatric surgical service. The records were reviewed to determine emergency department analgesic use, patient disposition, and laparotomy rate.ResultsTwo hundred ninety patients met our inclusion criteria. Of the patients seen initially by emergency physicians, 14.3% received analgesics, while those seen directly by the surgical service received analgesia 15.4% of the time. The laparotomy rate for the 290 patients was 46.6%.ConclusionsAnalgesic use in children who present to the emergency department with acute abdominal pain and require a surgical consultation was very low, although half required a laparotomy. Prospective studies are needed to determine the efficacy and safety of analgesic use in this setting.

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