The diagnostic workup of abdominal pain in emergency medicine follows a structured approach combining laboratory testing and imaging selection, guided by the sensitivity, specificity, and clinical utility of each modality for particular pathologies. Laboratory tests (pregnancy testing, complete blood count, metabolic and pancreatic panels, lactate, EKG, urinalysis) serve as non-specific or targeted markers of physiologic stress, organ dysfunction, ischemia, or infection, while imaging modalities (plain film, ultrasound, CT) are selected based on trade-offs among speed, radiation exposure, operator dependence, and diagnostic yield for conditions such as bowel obstruction, perforation, aortic aneurysm, and appendicitis. A cross-cutting principle is that atypical or blunted symptomatology in elderly, immunocompromised, or diabetic patients warrants a lower threshold for testing and imaging despite reassuring superficial findings.
The diagnostic workup of abdominal pain in emergency medicine follows a structured approach combining laboratory testing and imaging selection, guided by the sensitivity, specificity, and clinical ut…