A primary care approach to abdominal pain in adults

Abdominal pain is a common presenting problem with multiple aetiologies that often pose diagnostic and therapeutic dilemmas for primary care practitioners. The vague symptomatology and difficult correlation to specific organ pathology obscures clinical findings leading to incorrect diagnoses. Althou...

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Main Authors: Indiran Govender, Selvandran Rangiah, Tombo Bongongo, Philemon Mahuma
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: AOSIS 2021-03-01
Series:South African Family Practice
Subjects:
Online Access:https://safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/view/5280
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author Indiran Govender
Selvandran Rangiah
Tombo Bongongo
Philemon Mahuma
author_facet Indiran Govender
Selvandran Rangiah
Tombo Bongongo
Philemon Mahuma
author_sort Indiran Govender
collection DOAJ
description Abdominal pain is a common presenting problem with multiple aetiologies that often pose diagnostic and therapeutic dilemmas for primary care practitioners. The vague symptomatology and difficult correlation to specific organ pathology obscures clinical findings leading to incorrect diagnoses. Although most presentations of abdominal pain are benign, a significant number of patients have life-threatening conditions that require a meticulous approach to management in order to prevent morbidity and mortality. The skill in assessing patients presenting with abdominal pain is fundamental for all primary care doctors. This review will discuss an approach to the assessment and diagnosis of abdominal pain in the primary care setting.
format Article
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institution Kabale University
issn 2078-6190
2078-6204
language English
publishDate 2021-03-01
publisher AOSIS
record_format Article
series South African Family Practice
spelling doaj-art-8d59c0f4cd3945b4840cacbcde5af0652025-08-20T03:47:09ZengAOSISSouth African Family Practice2078-61902078-62042021-03-01631e1e510.4102/safp.v63i1.52804123A primary care approach to abdominal pain in adultsIndiran Govender0Selvandran Rangiah1Tombo Bongongo2Philemon Mahuma3Department of Family Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, PretoriaDepartment of Family Medicine, School of Public Health, University of KwaZulu-Natal, DurbanDepartment of Family Medicine, School of Medicine, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Ga-RankuwaDepartment of Family Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, PretoriaAbdominal pain is a common presenting problem with multiple aetiologies that often pose diagnostic and therapeutic dilemmas for primary care practitioners. The vague symptomatology and difficult correlation to specific organ pathology obscures clinical findings leading to incorrect diagnoses. Although most presentations of abdominal pain are benign, a significant number of patients have life-threatening conditions that require a meticulous approach to management in order to prevent morbidity and mortality. The skill in assessing patients presenting with abdominal pain is fundamental for all primary care doctors. This review will discuss an approach to the assessment and diagnosis of abdominal pain in the primary care setting.https://safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/view/5280abdominal painprimary care doctorhistory examinationabdominal wall pain
spellingShingle Indiran Govender
Selvandran Rangiah
Tombo Bongongo
Philemon Mahuma
A primary care approach to abdominal pain in adults
South African Family Practice
abdominal pain
primary care doctor
history examination
abdominal wall pain
title A primary care approach to abdominal pain in adults
title_full A primary care approach to abdominal pain in adults
title_fullStr A primary care approach to abdominal pain in adults
title_full_unstemmed A primary care approach to abdominal pain in adults
title_short A primary care approach to abdominal pain in adults
title_sort primary care approach to abdominal pain in adults
topic abdominal pain
primary care doctor
history examination
abdominal wall pain
url https://safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/view/5280
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AT philemonmahuma aprimarycareapproachtoabdominalpaininadults
AT indirangovender primarycareapproachtoabdominalpaininadults
AT selvandranrangiah primarycareapproachtoabdominalpaininadults
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