Acute Abdomen Symptoms, Causes & Treatment
Acute Abdomen Symptoms, Causes & Treatment Detailed
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| Acute Abdomen |
What is Acute Abdomen?
Acute abdomen refers to a sudden onset of severe abdominal pain. An acute abdomen may be indicative of a major problem with one of the organs in the abdomen. the inflamed appendix, inflamed gallbladder, a ruptured spleen, or perforated ulcer in the intestine. It is a life-threatening medical emergency, requiring urgent and specific diagnosis.
CAUSES OF ACUTE ABDOMEN
It has a large number of possible causes.
- Sickle cell anemia
- Kidney stone
- Ruptured ectopic pregnancy
- Ruptured spleen
- Acute appendicitis
- Acute peptic ulcer
- Adrenal crisis
- Ovarian torsion
- Bowel obstruction
- Biliary colic
Acute intestinal ischemia acute pancreatitis
Acute peritonitis Trauma such as from
- stab, gunshot wounds to blunt abdominal injuries.
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- Abdominal aortic aneurysm
- Acute urinary retention
- Pelvic inflammatory disease
- Typhoid
- Myocardial Hepatitis infarction
- Severe
- Pancreatitis
- liver failure
SYMPTOMS OF ACUTE ABDOMEN
- Abdominal pain
- Nausea and vomiting
- Lethargy
- Bloody diarrhea
- Abdominal swelling
- Constipation
- Shock
- Anorexia
- Elevated temperature
- Muscle spasm
- Presence of mass
- Silent or noisy bowel sound
DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT
Features of pain and associated symptoms which are likely to provide important clues during diagnosis are:
- Type of onset - if it is sudden
- Quality - if it is dull, sharp (in the case of gut obstruction
- aching (such as is found in pelvic inflammatory disease)
- intensified by breathing, or tearing
- Intensity if it is severe, moderate, or mild
- Temporal features - if it is continuous or pulsating
- Frequency and duration of pain
- If it is intensified by motion, relieved or aggravated by mealse.
- It is expected that the doctor carefully considers the patient's symptoms, especially in relation to organs that are more likely to cause the acute conditions.
- Prolonged investigation of the condition may be used for patient who does recules urgent medical care.
- To avoid error of omission and separate those who need immediate surgery from those who require watchful expectancy.
- or those who require medical rather than surgical management, careful and complete data collection is the diagnostic aid.
- First, the patient is checked for symptoms such as fever, or evidence of shock.
- After which a complete and systematic examination of all organs is done.
- It is of great importance that the heart and lung be carefully checked.
- This is done to determine if an extra abdominal cause for abdominal pain is present as well as to determine if the patient satisfies all the condition for surgery.
An abdominal investigation including pelvic and rectal gives information about the type and degree on which diagnosis can be based and recommendation is made for one against surgical procedures.
The patient may need to point to the area where the pain is more intense.
After which the standard techniques of auscultation, palpitation, and percussioni performed
These includes: Urine test for signs of blood, and infection medical centric
Blood test X-ray
TREATMENT OF ACUTE ABDOMEN
Treatment option depends on the cause and once diagnosis has been made,
medical intervention and surgical intervention, or both is necessary to treat patient.
- Fluid therapy given intravenously.
- Blood replacement.
- Nasogastric suction.
- Drug therapy.
