ACUTE ABDOMEN;

Introduction: The term “acute abdomen” denotes any sudden spontaneousnon-traumatic disorder whose chief manifestation is in the abdominal area. There is frequently a progressive underlyingintra-abdominal disorder, the correct early diagnosis and treatment of which is essential for a favorable outcome.Objectives: (I) To find out the most common causes of acute abdomen. (II) To compare the preoperative assessmentwith postoperative diagnosis. Design: A Non-interventional Analytical (Comparative) study. Setting: Emergencydepartment of Combined Military Hospital Kharian. Period: Oct 2001 to Mar 2002. Patients & Methods: Total of 220patients who presented with acute abdomen. Results: The most frequent cause was found to be Acute Appendicitis,followed by Nonspecific abdominal pain, acute cholecystitis, acute intestinal obstruction and perforated duodenal ulcer.Preoperative diagnosis was wrong in 9.5% (n=21) of cases. Conclusion: Acute appendicitis was found to be the mostcommon cause of acute abdomen and the single most important cause of acute abdominal pain causing greatdiagnostic difficulties. the preoperative diagnostic accuracy can be increased especially in female of child bearing ageby using modern diagnostic tools especially laparoscopy.