Abstract

PINTADO ASTUDILLO, Fausto Néstor. Diagnosis of obstructive acute abdomen with conventional radiology. Universidad y Sociedad [online]. 2021, vol.13, n.2, pp. 294-300.  Epub Apr 02, 2021. ISSN 2218-3620.

The medical emergencies that come very frequently to request the immediate attention of the hospital correspond to the clinical pictures of abdominal pain, which characterize the acute abdomen, the same one that can need a clinical solution in some cases, but in others an emergency surgical intervention is required, as the case of the appendicitis in pediatric age. The diagnosis of certainty is important, to avoid complications and the deterioration of the patient's general condition, for which the protocol established and approved by the Ministry of Public Health in Ecuador must be applied, through compliance with the method of the diagnostic algorithm by images, whose contribution as a diagnostic aid is very sensitive to detect the different pathologies that explain the etiology of the physiopathological process, and that currently determine certain models to reach the differential diagnosis, with a high level of specificity and sensitivity (up to 92%), which eliminate false negative and positive diagnoses, which in previous times were the cause of medical error, motivating the practice of "defensive" medicine, harming patient care, for fear of a medical malpractice lawsuit. The usefulness of conventional radiology of the abdomen was demonstrated, to establish the diagnosis, especially in children, who do not allow us to establish a clear diagnostic process.

Keywords : Acute obstructive abdomen; conventional radiology; differential diagnosis; medical malpractice; sensitivity; and specificity.

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