Abdominal pain in elderly

Czech version

Authors: MUDr. Emmanuela Fernandová; prof. MUDr. Hana Matějovská Kubešová, CSc.
Authors‘ workplace: FN Brno ; Klinika interní, geriatrie a praktického lékařství LF MU
Published in: Geriatrie a Gerontologie 2020, 9, č. 1: 23-27
Category: Review Article

Overview

Diagnosing abdominal pain in the senior population is often very challenging and finding the right etiology is not always an easy task. This is related to the specific features of old age pathologies where patients are often multimorbid using large amounts of medication and many symptoms are obscured or atypical. The most common etiology of non-acute abdominal pain in the elderly is urinary tract infection and constipation. In terms of surgical intervention, the most common cause of acute abdominal pain arises from pancreato-biliary region. Due to demographic aspects and the aging population, the number of patients in emergency departments will continue to grow. Making the right diagnosis and having comprehensive approach would be the key to successful patient management. In this article we will focus mainly on the review of acute abdominal pain in senior population, its etiology, clinical aspects, diagnosis and treatment..

Keywords:

elderly – Abdominal pain – atypical symptoms

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