• Tormod Bjerkeset, Steinar Havik, Knut-Erik Moen Aune, and Arne Rosseland.
• Kirurgisk avdeling, Sykehuset Levanger, 7600 Levanger. tormod.bjerkeset@c2i.net
• Tidsskr. Nor. Laegeforen. 2006 Jun 8; 126 (12): 1602-4.

BackgroundOur aim was to investigate the extent, management and use of resources in patients admitted for acute abdominal pain.Material And MethodsA prospective analysis of patients admitted as emergencies with acute abdominal pain of less than seven days duration was performed during two 3-month periods in 2000 and 2001.Results483 patients, 262 women and 221 men with median age 50 years were registered. Median duration of pre-hospital symptoms was 16.5 hours. At discharge, non-specific abdominal pain was the most frequent diagnosis (26%), followed by acute appendicitis (12%), acute biliary disease (12%), ileus and ureterolithiasis (both 6%) and diverticulitis (5%). 31% of the patients presented during normal working hours, whereas 69% were admitted during nighttime and/or weekends. Only 23% of the patients needed an acute operation. The overall mortality was 0.4%. The median stay in hospital was two days (0-165 days). 43% of the patients were discharged in less than one day, and 48% had no need for any medical treatment. The patient group occupied 17% of the beds and resources in our surgical department.InterpretationPatients with acute abdominal pain is a heterogenous group that occupies a great deal of a surgical department's resources. It might be cost-effective to examine these patients in an observational unit supervised by well-trained surgeons.

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