A retrospective case series study for acute abdomen in general surgery ward of Aliabad Teaching Hospital

Acute abdomen means, the patient complains of acute abdominal symptoms that suggest a disease, which definitely or possibly threatens life and may or may not demand immediate operative interference, but often requires emergency surgical therapy. The diagnosis and management of acute abdomen forms a large part of routine duties of a general surgeon throughout his career.

The aim of this study was to clarify the clinical profile of acute abdomen and their frequency according to age and sex in general surgery ward of Aliabad teaching hospital.

This descriptive retrospective study was performed by reviewing medical records (In-patient file) of 299 patients who admitted with diagnosis of acute abdomen between March 21, 2018 and March 21, 2019 in general surgery ward of Aliabad teaching hospital.

Males were affected more than females with male to female ratio being 1,14:1. Highest number of patients were in 15-24 years of life (n = 122, 40,8%). The most common cause was found to be acute appendicitis for acute abdomen, accounting for 57,5% of total admission. It was followed by acute intestinal obstruction (20,7%) and acute cholecystitis (10,4%). The most common symptom was abdominal pain and most common surgical procedures were open appendectomy for acute appendicitis followed by explorative laparotomy. The complications (Clavien-Dindo = IIIb) and mortality rate in our study were 17% and 3.6% respectively.

Abdominal pain is one of the cardinal and common symptom of acute abdomen in the emergency department. The causes of acute abdominal pain have a wide range and their relative incidence varies in different populations. Clinicians think seriously multiple diagnoses, especially in those cases that require immediate intervention to limit morbidity and mortality.