Workup
Patients presenting to A&E or the ER with severe abdominal pain will almost always have an Abdominal x-ray and / or a CT scan. These tests can provide a differential diagnosis between simple and complex pathologies. It can also provide evidence to the doctor whether surgical intervention is necessary.
Patients will also most likely receive a complete blood count (or full blood count in the U.K.), looking for characteristic findings such as neutrophilia in appendicitis.
Traditionally, the use of opiates or other painkillers in patients with an acute abdomen has been discouraged before the clinical examination, because these would alter the examination. However, the scientific literature does not reveal any negative results from these alterations.
Read more about this topic: Acute Abdomen