[Causes of pain in the right iliac fossa]

A practical approach to the patient with pain in the right fossa iliaca is presented, stressing the importance of a clinical diagnosis. It is essential to select patients in need of urgent surgery, e.g. those with ectopic pregnancy, ruptured abdominal aneurysm, and perforated viscus, but not to operate on patients in whom surgery may be detrimental, e.g. those in diabetic precoma, or those with porphyria and pneumonia.