Family medicine
-
This study evaluated the usefulness of temperature, leukocyte count, and laboratory screening tests for abdominal pain to distinguish dischargeable from admittable illness and to distinguish admittable, nonsurgical disease from surgical disease in elderly patients (> or = 65 years) who present to the emergency department with acute (< 1 week) nontraumatic abdominal pain. ⋯ Temperature and laboratory screening tests for evaluation of abdominal pain in the elderly do not differentiate admittable, nonsurgical disease from surgical disease. Physicians who evaluate elderly patients with acute abdominal pain must be aware that their clinical impression of surgical illness is of greater importance than laboratory tests in the decision to request special studies or surgical consultation.