[Acute abdominal pain syndrome. The computer as an aid to diagnosis (author's transl)]

With a bank of data collected locally and a probability program of diagnostic aid, the computer is capable of making the correct diagnosis in 79% of acute abdominal pain syndromes. Its performance in this respect is somewhat superior to that of clinicians (73.5%). Including a computer program in diagnostic procedures would reduce the number of errors by excess or omission. In abdominal emergencies computerization would help either by increasing the reliability of clinical diagnoses or by suggesting that other possibilities should be investigated.