Acute abdomen in children

Abstract

Acute abdomen is a clinical condition formed by diseases causing acute peritoneal irritation. Delay in diagnosis and treatment may result in rapid progression of disease and may give rise to severe systemic problems. The fundamental aim for physician is to find out the possible cause while coping with the child admitted with abdominal pain. Matter of importance is whether the cause of the abdominal pain requires surgical intervention or can be cured by a prompt medical treatment. Roughly speaking, five percent of all abdominal pain problems may be related with a severe surgical problem. First physician is very important in surgical abdomen as far as early diagnosis and prevention of complications are concerned. For the cases which the diagnosis is not that easy, observation and surgical consultation should be the policy of choice. (Turk Arch Ped 2010; 45 Suppl: 62-7)