The Checklist of Abdominal Pain Causes Used in the Differential Diagnosis of Vascular Diseases with Abdominal Pain as a Presentation: an Analysis of Three Cases

Abstract

Background Acute abdominal pain is one of the most common chief complaints in medical emergencies. Due to atypical clinical manifestations, the misdiagnosis rate of acute abdominal pain caused by vascular diseases is high. Objective To assess the value of the checklist of abdominal pain causes in the differential diagnosis of vascular diseases with abdominal pain as a presentation. Methods In accordance with the five diseases (localized organic disease, heart, lung and spine diseases, systemic disease, functional disorders, gynecological disease) with abdominal pain as a manifestation in the checklist of abdominal pain causes, we analyzed the causes of abdominal pain in three patients with acute atypical abdominal pain as the main manifestation for making a proper diagnosis, then assessed the practicability of the checklist in the diagnosis of vascular diseases. Results With the help of the checklist, the time used for diagnosing one patient with acute renal infarction, one with aortic dissection, and the other with pulmonary embolism was 1.5, 1.5, 1.75 hours, respectively. All the patients received timely diagnosis and treatment. Conclusion The checklist is helpful to the differential diagnosis of vascular abdominal pain, making a rapid clinical diagnosis, and forming a systematic diagnostic thinking mode.

Keywords

• abdomen, acute|abdominal pain|checklist|diagnosis, differential|vascular diseases|renal artery obstruction|pulmonary embolism