Management and management of acute abdomen: a narrative review

Abstract

Objective: To present the most important aspects of the causes, diagnoses and therapies of the acute abdomen. Bibliographic review: The acute abdomen is characterized by the presence of abdominal pain and tenderness of sudden onset and progressive evolution, with a maximum duration of 5 days and non-traumatic origin. Based on this, the need for in-hospital observation, additional tests and/or immediate surgical indication should be evaluated. After clinical evaluation, a decision can be made to carry out additional diagnostic investigation with laboratory markers, imaging tests such as plain radiography, ultrasound and Computed Tomography (CT) and, in some cases, endoscopy. It can be classified as urgent and non-urgent. In order to facilitate medical workup and clinical reasoning, syndromes are divided based on their determining processes. Examples include the inflammatory, perforative, obstructive, vascular, and hemorrhagic abdomen. The treatment will be defined according to the clinical presentation of the patient. Final considerations: The diagnostic evaluation in the acute abdomen includes clinical evaluation, anamnesis and physical examination. Once the diagnosis is made, the interventional therapeutic approach should be started quickly.