Acute abdominal pain as cause of hospitalisation

BACKGROUND: Our aim was to investigate the extent, management and use of resources in patients admitted for acute abdominal pain. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A prospective analysis of patients admitted as emergencies with acute abdominal pain of less than seven days duration was performed during two 3-month periods in 2000 and 2001. RESULTS: 483 patients, 262 women and 221 men with median age 50 years were registered. Median duration of pre-hospital symptoms was 16.5 hours. At discharge, non-specific abdominal pain was the most frequent diagnosis (26%), followed by acute appendicitis (12%), acute biliary disease (12%), ileus and ureterolithiasis (both 6%) and diverticulitis (5%). 31% of the patients presented during normal working hours, whereas 69% were admitted during nighttime and/or weekends. Only 23% of the patients needed an acute operation. The overall mortality was 0.4%. The median stay in hospital was two days (0-165 days). 43% of the patients were discharged in less than one day, and 48% had no need for any medical treatment. The patient group occupied 17% of the beds and resources in our surgical department. INTERPRETATION: Patients with acute abdominal pain is a heterogenous group that occupies a great deal of a surgical department's resources. It might be cost-effective to examine these patients in an observational unit supervised by well-trained surgeons.