Skip Navigation


Family Practice Advance Access originally published online on June 17, 2005
Family Practice 2005 22(5):474-477; doi:10.1093/fampra/cmi039
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
22/5/474    most recent
cmi039v1
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (1)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Master, S. S
Right arrow Articles by Liu, A. L
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Master, S. S
Right arrow Articles by Liu, A. L
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author (2005). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Results of computed tomography in family practitioners' patients with non-acute abdominal pain

Sonali S Mastera, George F Longstretha and Amy L Liub

a Department of Gastroenterology, Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Plan, San Diego and b Department of Research and Evaluation, Southern California Permanente Medical Group, Pasadena, California

Correspondence to George F Longstreth, Department of Gastroenterology, Kaiser Medical Center, 4647 Zion Avenue, San Diego, California 92120, USA; Email: George.F.Longstreth{at}kp.org

Objectives. The utility of abdominal computerized tomography (CT) for evaluating abdominal pain in non-emergency, primary care outpatients is unknown. Family practice patients commonly report abdominal pain.

Methods. We reviewed the records of health maintenance organization primary care outpatients <2 years after they had undergone CT for abdominal pain and assessed demographic variables, clinical and laboratory data, CT findings and final diagnoses.

Results. We studied 137 patients: age 58.1 ± 16.1 years (mean ± SD), 80 (58.4%) females. Fifty (36.5%) patients had ≥1 warning clinical or laboratory feature. Positive (etiologic) and negative CT reports and unrelated and multiple CT findings occurred in 16 (11.7%), 104 (75.9%), 16 (11.7%) and 1 (0.7%) patients, respectively. Positive findings occurred in 16 (32.0%) patients with ≥1 warning feature and 1 (1.2%) patient (including the 1 patient with multiple findings) with no warning feature (P < 0.0001). One (6.3%) unrelated finding led to treatment, ovariectomy for a benign tumor. Fifty-four (39.4%) patients had a final diagnosis.

Conclusions. A majority of outpatients who had CT for abdominal pain received no diagnosis, and CT was rarely diagnostic for patients lacking a warning feature. Positive and unrelated CT findings were equally prevalent, and the latter were not beneficial.

Keywords. Abdominal pain, computed tomography.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 GutHome page
G. F Longstreth
Avoiding unnecessary surgery in irritable bowel syndrome
Gut, May 1, 2007; 56(5): 608 - 610.
[Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.