Outcome of nonspecific abdominal pain in the discharged patients from the emergency department

Abstract

Background and Objective: The causes of non traumatic abdominal pain are varied from mild to severe onset. This study was carried out to assess the outcome of the patients with non-specific abdominal pain discharged from the emergency department. Methods: This cohort study was carried out on 247 patients (68.4% female, 31.6% male) with non-specific abdominal pain which referred to the emergency department of Imam Hossain hospital in Tehran, Iran during 2010-11. The existence or improvement of pain, readmission to hospital and possible subsequent complications diagnose and death was recorded after four-week through telephone follow-up. Results: 247 patients with non-specific abdominal pain were enrolled. Out of 158 patients with recurrence pain, 71 (45%) patients were admitted to the hospital again that finally, cause of pain was diagnosed in 45 (28.5%) patients. The most common cause of abdominal pain was irritable bowel syndrome (3.2%). History of similar pain (OR=4.04, P<0.05), abnormal findings in abdominal ultrasonography (OR=8.2, P<0.05), abnormal urine analysis (OR=7.4, P<0.05) and abdominal pain persisted for more than 2 days (OR=4.04, P<0.05) were independent factors to identifying the causes of abdominal pain. Conclusion: Nonspecific abdominal pain will not lead to appropriate recognition and most of them recover without any complication.

Keywords

• Nonspecific abdominal pain
• Ultrasonography
• Irritable bowel syndrome