MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'abdominal pain'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:25:35 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5158995&cid=t_213906_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Freducing-the-use-of-ct-scans-in-children%2F2011.08.25 Well, this is satisfying. Over the years, in our ER we have mirrored the nationwide trend and have significantly increased the utilization of CT scans across the board. The reasons are manifold. Some cite malpractice risks, and indeed in our large group we have had one lawsuit for a pediatric head injury and another for a missed appendicitis which probably did contribute. But, in my opinion, there have been many other drivers of the increased use. For one, CTs have gotten way, way better over the last 15 years, which quite simply has made them a better diagnostic tool. They’ve also gotten way faster. As the facilities have invested in CT scanners, they have increased their capacity and increased their staffing, so the barriers to their use have rapidly diminished. I am so old that I ... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5158995 Thu, 25 Aug 2011 12:00:00 +0100 5158995 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4477760&cid=t_213906_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fin-the-er-with-abdominal-pain-lower-your-diagnosis-expectations%2F2011.02.15 Abdominal pain is the bane of many emergency physicians. Recently, I wrote how CT scans are on the rise in the ER. Much of those scans look for potential causes of abdominal pain. In an essay from Time, Dr. Zachary Meisel discusses why abdominal pain, in his words, is the doctor’s “booby prize.” And when you consider that there are 7 million visits annually by people who report abdominal pain, that’s a lot of proverbial prizes. One reason is the myriad of causes that lead bring a patient to the hospital clutching his abdomen. It can range from something as relatively benign as viral gastroenteritis where a patient be safely discharged home, to any number of “acute” abdominal problems necessitating surgery. But more importantly, we need to consider how limited doctors actually a... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4477760 Tue, 15 Feb 2011 16:00:19 +0100 4477760 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4253146&cid=t_213906_88_f&fid=38129&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Flifeinthefastlane%2FWZHV%2F%7E3%2F3MLsIhOGBA8%2F A 4 year-old boy is brought to the emergency department by his parents with a history of increasing numbers of red spots on his legs over the past 6 days. They took him to two different family doctors and have tried various creams. The spots have spread to his buttocks and his arms, and now his legs are sore and look swollen. He has also had abdominal pains. (Source: Life in the Fast Lane) Life in the Fast Lane blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4253146 Mon, 13 Dec 2010 00:00:11 +0100 4253146 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3742310&cid=t_213906_111_f&fid=39123&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fnursingcomments%2Ftdtc%2F%7E3%2FbjGJW_4b92Y%2F           Diverticulosis is a condition which affects your large intestine, more commonly referred to as the colon.  Nutrition is digested and food is absorbed in the 20 feet of your small intestine – the long, thin portion of the bowel that begins at the stomach and ends in the right, lower abdomen.  Following digestion, the liquid waste enters the 5 feet of the large intestine (colon) which ends in the rectum.  Just above the rectum, there is an s-shaped portion of the colon called the sigmoid colon, and this is where diverticulosis usually occurs.  A colon affected by diverticulosis has weak spots in the walls and these weak spots allow the development of outpouches.  These hollow pouches on the colon are about the size of a large pea and are referred to as diverticula.�... Nursing Comments blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3742310 Sat, 10 Jul 2010 21:05:27 +0100 3742310 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3737042&cid=t_213906_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fsummer-food-safety-how-to-keep-your-bbq-guests-alive%2F2010.07.08 Legendary soul chef Charles Gabriel talks with Dr. Jon LaPook about food safety during the summer grilling months. Watch CBS News Videos Online  How To Survive The Summer Barbecue  My mother was very proud of the fact that none of her four children ever became sick from her cooking. While it’s true she may have erred on the side of overcooking the turkey, being spared food poisoning is yet another in the long list of gifts from my mom. Every year, about 76 million Americans develop illness from food, more than 325,000 are hospitalized, and about 5,000 die. The most common cause is contamination with bacteria such as Salmonella, Campylobacter, Shigella, and E. coli — though other organisms such as viruses and protozoa can also be culprits. As summer begins, I thought it woul... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3737042 Thu, 08 Jul 2010 22:00:35 +0100 3737042 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3629713&cid=t_213906_111_f&fid=39123&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fnursingcomments%2Ftdtc%2F%7E3%2FXfqGmbW0ZH4%2F Jaundice           The liver is an extraordinary organ in the human body.  It is vital to our survival and performs several functions.  The liver is located in the upper right hand side of the abdomen and it processes the body’s nutrients.  In addition, this powerhouse organ manufactures bile to help digest fats, synthesizing many important proteins.  Further, the liver breaks down potentially toxic substances into ones that the body can use or excrete.  Finally, it is responsible for regulating blood clotting.  Hepatitis is very simply inflammation of the liver.  Most commonly the disease is caused by viruses, but other known causes could include autoimmune disease, alcohol, drugs or it may be an inherited disease.  Things such as body piercing, unprotected sex and tatt... Nursing Comments blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3629713 Fri, 04 Jun 2010 13:09:34 +0100 3629713 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3577473&cid=t_213906_111_f&fid=39123&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fnursingcomments%2Ftdtc%2F%7E3%2FxytqX3cytuI%2F           Crohn’s disease is a lifelong inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).  Parts of the digestive system get swollen and have deep sores called ulcers.  The disease usually is found in the last part of the small intestine and the first part of the large intestine, but it can develop anywhere in the digestive tract, from the mouth to the anus.  Doctors don’t know what causes Crohn’s disease.  You may get it when the body’s immune system has an abnormal response to normal bacteria in your intestine.  Other kinds of bacteria and viruses may also play a role in causing the disease.  Crohn’s disease can run in families.  Your chances of getting it are higher if a close family member has it.  People of Eastern European (Ashkenazi) Jewish family background may h... Nursing Comments blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3577473 Wed, 19 May 2010 12:29:16 +0100 3577473 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3262548&cid=t_213906_83_f&fid=34856&url=http%3A%2F%2Finsidesurgery.com%2F2010%2F02%2Fpancreatic-cancer-ductal-adenocarcinoma%2F Pathophysiology 1) development of solid tumor originating from ductal system 2) metastases are most common to liver and regional lymph nodes Signs and Symptoms 1) abdominal pain (gnawing or burning nature typically) 2) jaundice 3) enlarged, palpable gallbladder in 40% of patients (Courvoisier’s sign) 4) light-colored stools 5) dark urine 6) pruritus 7) weight loss splenomegaly 9) venous thrombosis 10) migratory thrombophlebitis (Trousseau’s sign) (Source: Inside Surgery) Inside Surgery blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3262548 Thu, 11 Feb 2010 02:08:41 +0100 3262548 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3044806&cid=t_213906_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F11%2F30%2Finsecurity-pain-and-depression%2F We often try and highlight the connections between one’s mental health and their physical health complaints, to demonstrate that the two are inseparable. Yet another study has been published to show how our insecurity can even impact something as physical as the feeling of pain. The study of 382 teenagers showed that those who were more insecure had a tendency to amplify the degree they felt pain: We found that adolescents with insecure relationships tend to be more ‘alarmist’ about their pain symptoms; they have a tendency to amplify the degree of threat or severity of their pain. This amplification leads to more intense pain and more severe depressive symptoms. In other words, the more insecure a teen reportedly was, the more intense pain they complained of, often in the form... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3044806 Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:22:30 +0100 3044806 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2939583&cid=t_213906_165_f&fid=37959&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthskills.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F10%2F29%2Fa-recording-or-the-real-thing%2F I’m musing about an article I read while browsing the internet looking for information on hypnosis. It’s from the BBC – you can read it here – where it is announced that a recording of guided imagery is useful for kids with abdominal pain, saying ‘they can imagine themselves in scenarios like floating on a cloud’ and experience improvements in their pain. I think this is a great piece of news with a sting in the tail. Like most news articles it fails to deliver the detail, and as you know, the devil is in the details! Let me say firstly that I haven’t read the original article which is found in the journal Pediatrics, and apparently follows on from similar studies showing that hypnosis for kids has some good effect – apparently because kids h... HealthSkills Weblog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2939583 Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:39:44 +0100 2939583 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2381353&cid=t_213906_111_f&fid=36048&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAHeartyLife%2F%7E3%2FlmKV_R39ZeE%2F If you’ve ever experienced abdominal cramping due to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), Crohn’s disease or any other problems with the intestines, you know that they can be truly incapacitating. How do I know? I was hit yet again this week. It had been a while since I had such bad cramping. While I  used to usually experience pain of about 7 on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the worst ever, I think this week’s was 9, if not 10. And it just started out of the blue. But when do you need to see a doctor for something like this? My daughter was very concerned. She’s 20 and has experienced severe abdominal pain from appendicitis to gall bladder, so she was worried that I had something equally serious. Me, being me, knew that it wasn&#82... A Hearty Life blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2381353 Fri, 01 May 2009 01:42:17 +0100 2381353