Diagnosis of Acute Abdominal Pain

This revised and expanded edition deals with the diagnosis of acute abdominal pain. Topics covered include perforated peptic ulcer and acute pancreatitus, a revision of the physical examination, acute abdominal pain in children, and urinary tract problems.

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The decade or so which has elapsed since the first edition of this book was written has been an eventful one as far as acute abdominal pain is concerned. The pattern of disease has changed (albeit only slightly) with some causative diseases such as appendicitis becoming rather less common, and others such as cancer and vascular disease assuming ever more increasing importance. Acute abdominal pain remains the last bastion of clinical acumen; but considerable developments have occurred in terms of special investigations, some of which are (for the first time) proving their value in routine clinical practice. As with other areas of medicine, automation and computers are becoming increasingly useful, and there is much talk of clinical audit and protocols for treatment. More importantly, however, than all of these developments, the first decade has seen an explosion of interest by practising clinicians in the clinical presentation and management of patients with acute abdominal pain.
As a result, large databanks of information now exist, collected by clinicians around the world using pre-agreed terminology, and involving tens of thousands of patients - allowing (perhaps for the first time) a world-wide consensus view of the clinical presentation and diagnosis of patients with acute abdominal pain. This second edition will attempt to reflect some of these recent developments. It aims particularly to bring up to date the material in the first edition - which was often based upon Leeds cases - to check out some of the ideas and concepts raised in that edition. This especially applies to the presentation of patients at the extremes of life (separate chapters being devoted to children and elderly patients), to international variation in the disease spectrum, and to special investigative chapters on the latter two.