The Diagnostic Value of Abdominal Ultrasound in Children with Acute Abdominal Pain

Background: Abdominal pain is a very common complains of patients attending medical emergency room. Pain abdomen accounts for about 5-10% of all emergency department visits. The abdominal pain in pediatrics can manifest as either acute or recurrent pain. It is defined as a severe, sudden, and persistent pain. Aim: This study aimed to analyze the use and limitations of abdominal sonography for acute abdominal pain in the pediatric age group and to assess the clinical indication for requesting an ultrasound for a patient with a history of abdominal pain. Method: This was a retrospective descriptive observational study conducted among all pediatric age group patient a presented with acute abdominal pain who done ultrasound in radiology department, Benghazi Children’s Hospital attended in a period of one year. A total of 108 children were included in this study. Data were collected daily from radiological request. Results: A total of 108 children were presented through the radiology department during the period of study, with a slightly higher distribution of males (59, 54.6%) than females (49, 45.4%) among cases. The mean age was (7.71±3.66 years) ranged from 5 month to 14 years, with the median equal to 8 years. About one third of children (32, 29.6%) fall into the age group (9-11 years). The highest number of cases (49, 45%) came with pain at the Right side of abdomen, Fever was the most common symptom in the majority of cases (67, 62%), vomiting (22, 20.4%), diarrhea (20, 18.5%), abdominal distension (16,14.8%), urinary symptoms (10,9.3%), constipation (4, 3.7%), and weight loss (4,3.7%). The important diagnosis accounted (39.8%) including the following cases; acute appendicitis (26, 24.1%), perforated appendix (6,5.6%), intussusception (8,7.4%) urinary tract infection (2,1.9%), while the normal scan accounted (21,19.4%). Conclusion: As there is no requirement for patient anesthesia and no ionizing radiation, ultrasound is becoming an increasingly popular imaging ..