Computed tomographic studies of the painful abdomen

Abdominal CT scans were reviewed in a series of 53 patients who had abdominal pain without objective physical, radiographic, or laboratory abnormalities. Forty patients presented with abdominal pain alone, while the remaining patients had abdominal pain associated with nausea, vomiting, or mild weight loss. Abdominal CT scans in all patients were interpreted as normal. In all but one patient, the final diagnosis was an insignificant benign condition. One patient had a pancreatic carcinoma discovered at surgery one month after the CT scan was obtained. The patients were followed up for 6 to 12 months to confirm absence of significant disease. Our analysis suggests a very low yield from abdominal CT in patients with abdominal pain and no other objective findings.