Abstract
Background: Acute abdominal pain (AAP) is one of the most common causes of referral to an emergency department (ED), but information about its impact is limited.
 Objectives: The objectives of this article are to define the prevalence of AAP among ED visits in a large university hospital and analyze its main clinical features.
 Methods: All patients admitted at the Sant’ Orsola, Malpighi University Hospital of Bologna ED on 12?a priori selected sample days in 2013 were included. General data were recorded for each patient. A total of 192 clinical variables were recorded for each patient with abdominal pain.
 Results: During the observation period the ED assisted 2623 patients with a daily admission rate of 219?±?20 (mean?±?SD). Of these, 239 patients complained of AAP as their chief complaint at entry (prevalence?=?9.1%). AAP prevalence was significantly higher in females than in males (10.4% vs. 7.8%; OR?=?1.37; p?=?0.021) as well as in foreign over Italian patients (13.2% vs. 8.5%; OR?=?1.64; p?=?0.007). The most frequent ED operative diagnoses were non-specific abdominal pain (n?=?86, 36.0%) and gastrointestinal (GI) tract-related pain (n?=?79, 33.1%; n?=?19 upper GI, n?=?60 lower GI).
 Conclusions: AAP is a common cause of referral at EDs. Despite technological advances, non-specific abdominal pain is still the main operative diagnosis.
 Keywords: Acute, Abdominal, Pain, Management
Highlights
Acute abdominal pain (AAP) is a medical emergency, characterized by pain arising from the abdominal area, of non-traumatic origin with a maximum duration of five days. [1]
Ultrasonography is recommended to assess right upper quadrant pain, and computed tomography is recommended for right and left lower quadrant pain
Upon arrival at the emergency department (ED), the majority of patients were given a moderate degree of severity/risk: (n = 1526, 58.2%), the second largest group received a high degree of severity/risk (770, 29.4%), whereas a minority received either a mild (250, 9.5%) or an extreme degree of severity/risk: (77, 2.9%)
Summary
It is the most common surgical emergency, one of the most common reasons for referral to an emergency department (ED) and the most common cause for non-trauma-related hospital admissions. AAP is recognized as one of the leading causes of medical consultation and hospitalization Acute abdominal pain can represent a spectrum of conditions from benign and self-limited disease to surgical emergencies. Evaluating abdominal pain requires an approach that relies on the likelihood of disease, patient history, physical examination, laboratory tests, and imaging studies. Acute abdominal pain (AAP) is one of the most common causes of referral to an emergency department (ED), but information about its impact is limited. Conclusions: AAP is a common cause of referral at EDs. Despite technological advances, non-specific abdominal pain is still the main operative diagnosis
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