Abdominal pain has a broad differential, with multiple life-threatening causes as well as much more benign etiologies. It can be difficult to "work up" this presenting concern in an outpatient clinic, leading some clinicians to (prematurely) refer patients to the Emergency Department or take a "shot-gun approach" to testing. Likely pathologies also vary by age. Unnecessary abdominal imaging (plain radiographs, CT scans) increases healthcare costs and radiation exposure for patients. Ultrasonography continues to gain momentum as a preferred first imaging modality. Fear of "masking" the diagnosis by providing analgesia results in unnecessary patient discomfort. In this review session, we will consider abdominal pain by location but also quality and presentation, allowing us to use understanding of (patho)physiology to aid in diagnosis.
Learning Objectives 1. This session will try to break down abdominal pain by considering how and where pain is perceived as a means of refining the differential diagnosis. 2. This session will use "what would you do" cases to help participants learn from low-risk "mistakes" (and/or see what their peers are doing). 3. This session will help practitioners consider where they can improve their own clinic's resources to do more without needing the Emergency Department (maybe).
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