Answer
Unless a completely unremarkable examination is identified and an alternative source of the patient’s complaints is established, or a surgically correctible condition is operated on, patients will require medical follow-up after a diagnostic abdominal examination. The time frame and the nature of the follow up will be dictated by the findings. A patient with an exacerbation of their inflammatory bowel disease or with abdominal trauma usually requires hospitalization for close monitoring that will include serial examinations starting in a few hours. Patients with mild acid peptic disease, constipation, or irritable bowel syndrome (the most commonly diagnosed conditions as well as the most significant contributors to functional abdominal pain in children) will need to be seen after several weeks to determine the efficacy of the dietary, pharmacologic, and life style changes that were originally proposed.
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Abdominal palpation of a boy.
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Abdominal auscultation.
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Abdominal auscultation.
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Percussion over the liver.
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Abdominal wall findings from a handlebar injury.
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Abdominal wall findings in a passenger who was restrained with only a lap belt during a motor vehicle accident.
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Location of McBurney point illustrated on the abdomen of a male subject.
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Abdominal quadrants.
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Grey Turner sign. This 40-year-old woman complained of worsening epigastric pain of five days' duration. On examination, she had hypotension, a board-like abdomen, and extensive ecchymoses over her right loin.
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Acute pancreatitis with Cullen sign.
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A person with jaundice due to hepatic failure.
