Emergency medicine clinics of North America
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Emergency department providers have become skilled at triaging patients with abdominal pain requiring surgical interventions. Abdominal pain mimics, medical conditions that cause the sensation of abdominal pain without abdominal abnormality, continue to puzzle the best physicians.
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Emerg. Med. Clin. North Am. · May 2016
ReviewEvaluating the Patient with Right Upper Quadrant Abdominal Pain.
Right upper quadrant (RUQ) pain is among the most common complaints in the emergency department. The differential diagnosis is broad and includes gastrointestinal (GI) and non-GI causes for pain. ⋯ This article details the anatomy and physiology of the right upper abdomen and approach to the history and physical examination of the most common diseases encountered in the emergency department. "Can't miss," non-GI diagnoses are discussed. Best practices of laboratory and imaging, and treatment of most common diagnoses of RUQ pain are reviewed.
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Emerg. Med. Clin. North Am. · May 2016
ReviewPediatric Abdominal Pain: An Emergency Medicine Perspective.
Abdominal pain is a common complaint that leads to pediatric patients seeking emergency care. The emergency care provider has the arduous task of determining which child likely has a benign cause and not missing the devastating condition that needs emergent attention. This article reviews common benign causes of abdominal pain as well as some of the cannot-miss emergent causes.
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Emerg. Med. Clin. North Am. · May 2016
ReviewAbdominal Pain in the Immunocompromised Patient-Human Immunodeficiency Virus, Transplant, Cancer.
Patients with human immunodeficiency virus, those who are posttransplant, and those undergoing chemotherapy are populations who are immunocompromised and present to the emergency department with abdominal pain related to their disease processes, opportunistic infections, and complications of treatment. Emergency department practitioners must maintain vigilance, as the physical examination is often unreliable in these patients. Cross-sectional imaging and early treatment of symptoms with aggressive resuscitation is often required.
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Emerg. Med. Clin. North Am. · May 2016
ReviewThe Vomiting Patient: Small Bowel Obstruction, Cyclic Vomiting, and Gastroparesis.
Vomiting and abdominal pain are common in patients in the emergency department. This article focuses on small bowel obstruction (SBO), cyclic vomiting, and gastroparesis. ⋯ Treatment of acute cyclic vomiting is primarily directed at symptom control, volume and electrolyte repletion, and appropriate specialist follow-up. The mainstay of therapy for gastroparesis is metoclopramide.