Nontraumatic acute abdominal pain may have a wide variety of causes. When diagnostic imaging is clinically indicated in the evaluation of these patients, localizing the signs and symptoms is critical to properly triage the patient so that the correct imaging…
Blunt and penetrating abdominal trauma are two of the more common indications for radiologic investigation in the emergency department setting and are common causes of morbidity and mortality among patients admitted to trauma centers. Many of these patients have multisystem…
Etiology The causes of upper gastrointestinal bleeding include esophageal or gastric varices, Mallory-Weiss tears, gastritis, and gastric or duodenal ulcers. Common causes of lower gastrointestinal tract bleeding include colonic diverticulosis, ischemic and infectious colitis, colonic neoplasm, benign anorectal disease, arteriovenous…
Etiology The presence of extraluminal air in an acutely ill patient with abdominal pain is an ominous sign that usually indicates perforation of a hollow viscus. Common causes include gastroduodenal peptic ulcer disease, perforation of a gastrointestinal neoplasm, acute appendicitis…
Etiology Acute appendicitis results from obstruction of the appendiceal lumen from any cause (most commonly a fecalith), leading to overdistention and superinfection and, if not treated promptly, to perforation and peritonitis. Epidemiology Acute appendicitis is a common clinical concern in…
Etiology Renal calculi are typically caused by crystallization of supersaturated stone-forming materials in the urine. Calcium, in the form of calcium oxalate, calcium phosphate, and calcium urate, is the most common stone-forming material. Uric acid is the second most common…