A 23-year-old Female with Abdominal Pain in the Emergency Department; a Photo Quiz

Abstract

A 23-year-old female patient with a history of heart disease and a pacemaker for the last four years and a cesarean section 22 days ago came to the emergency department (ED) complaining of abdominal pain. Abdominal pain started seven days ago, which was vague and intermittent at first and misdiagnosed as postpartum pain in an outpatient visit. After a few days, nausea and vomiting accompanied the patient's symptoms, the abdomen became distended, and episodes of abdominal pain occurred with shorter intervals and greater intensity. The patient was referred to the ED as the abdominal pain became more severe. The initial vital signs of the patient in the ED included a blood pressure of 100/60 mmHg, a heart rate of 98 beats/minute, respiratory rate of 18 /minute, oral temperature of 37.8 Celsius, and a saturation O2 of 96% on room air.

Keywords

• Laparotomy
• intestinal perforation
• intestinal duplication cyst