Abstract
Background: Acute abdomen is the medical term used for pain in the abdomen that usually comes on suddenly and is so severe
that a person may seek emergency treatment, it can signal a variety of more serious conditions, some of which require
immediate medical care and or surgery.
Aim of the study: To evaluate the causes of non-traumatic acute abdomen and their presentation in elderly patients within the
emergency department at Al-Yarmook Teaching Hospital and their correlation to the final diagnosis and outcome.
Patient and method: A descriptive study was conducted on 121 elderly patients aged sixty years and above, complaining of acute
abdominal pain (traumatic cases were excluded & unknown patients fate), presented to the emergency unit of AlYarmook Teaching Hospital. The study was done during a period of fourteen months (1
st of February 2015 till
1
st of April 2016). The data were collected by interviewing questionnaire, reviewing of records, taking some
measurements, and physical examination. Data analyzed by using SPSS program-22.
Result: Patients with acute abdomen were included in present study with mean age 68.4±7.5 years with female to male ratio of
2.1:1. The most common chief complaint was pain presented in 100 (59%) of patients, 50 patients (41%)
presented with duration of chief complaint in ≤24 hours, 56.2% of the studied patients were hyperthermia, 65%
were hypertensive, mean pulse rate of studied patients was 110±12 beat/minutes, 75.3% of them had tachycardia,
mean respiratory rate of studied patients was 19±2 /minutes, 52% of them had tachypnia. Most common site of
pain was right iliac fossa (24.8%), murphy's sign was positive among 19 patients (16%), tenderness was present
in 114 of the patients (94%), abdominal guarding was positive in 106 of the studied patients (88%), jaundice was
observed in 27(22%) patients, dehydration was present among 79 (65%) of studied patients, and 76 of the patients
(62.8%) had elevated WBC. Cardiovascular diseases were the common associated diseases (47%). Ultrasound
findings of studied acute abdomen patients presented to emergency department revealed that 26 of them (21.5%)
had gall bladder abnormality, 24 (19.8%) had no specific ultrasound findings, the X-ray finding were abnormal
among 44 (36.4%). The most common diagnosis was perforated viscus for 18 (14.8%) patients. More than twothirds (72; 59.5%) were treated surgically with mortality rate was 18 (14.8%).
Conclusion: Pain was the most common complaint among elderly with acute abdomen, and right iliac fossa was the common site
of pain. Most patients attended to hospital late (after 24 hour from starting the symptoms). Perforated viscus &
cholecystitis appears to be the main causes of acute abdomen among Iraqi elderly people.
that a person may seek emergency treatment, it can signal a variety of more serious conditions, some of which require
immediate medical care and or surgery.
Aim of the study: To evaluate the causes of non-traumatic acute abdomen and their presentation in elderly patients within the
emergency department at Al-Yarmook Teaching Hospital and their correlation to the final diagnosis and outcome.
Patient and method: A descriptive study was conducted on 121 elderly patients aged sixty years and above, complaining of acute
abdominal pain (traumatic cases were excluded & unknown patients fate), presented to the emergency unit of AlYarmook Teaching Hospital. The study was done during a period of fourteen months (1
st of February 2015 till
1
st of April 2016). The data were collected by interviewing questionnaire, reviewing of records, taking some
measurements, and physical examination. Data analyzed by using SPSS program-22.
Result: Patients with acute abdomen were included in present study with mean age 68.4±7.5 years with female to male ratio of
2.1:1. The most common chief complaint was pain presented in 100 (59%) of patients, 50 patients (41%)
presented with duration of chief complaint in ≤24 hours, 56.2% of the studied patients were hyperthermia, 65%
were hypertensive, mean pulse rate of studied patients was 110±12 beat/minutes, 75.3% of them had tachycardia,
mean respiratory rate of studied patients was 19±2 /minutes, 52% of them had tachypnia. Most common site of
pain was right iliac fossa (24.8%), murphy's sign was positive among 19 patients (16%), tenderness was present
in 114 of the patients (94%), abdominal guarding was positive in 106 of the studied patients (88%), jaundice was
observed in 27(22%) patients, dehydration was present among 79 (65%) of studied patients, and 76 of the patients
(62.8%) had elevated WBC. Cardiovascular diseases were the common associated diseases (47%). Ultrasound
findings of studied acute abdomen patients presented to emergency department revealed that 26 of them (21.5%)
had gall bladder abnormality, 24 (19.8%) had no specific ultrasound findings, the X-ray finding were abnormal
among 44 (36.4%). The most common diagnosis was perforated viscus for 18 (14.8%) patients. More than twothirds (72; 59.5%) were treated surgically with mortality rate was 18 (14.8%).
Conclusion: Pain was the most common complaint among elderly with acute abdomen, and right iliac fossa was the common site
of pain. Most patients attended to hospital late (after 24 hour from starting the symptoms). Perforated viscus &
cholecystitis appears to be the main causes of acute abdomen among Iraqi elderly people.
Keywords
d: Acute Abdomen
Elderly.