An Unusual Diagnosis for Abdominal Pain

​BY ARJUN BHARADWAJ; MARGARET GAVOR, MBChB, MPH; & KHALID MALIK, MDA 65-year-old man presented to the emergency department complaining of sudden-onset left-sided abdominal pain followed by a “seizure.” His abdominal pain started a few hours prior to presentation, was sharp in nature, and radiated to his back and umbilicus. The pain waxed and waned, worsened when he walked or sat up, and at its worst was a 10/10. He took a laxative and two antacids, but received no relief.Each “seizure” episode lasted about 30 seconds and occurred every five minutes. He said he felt drained after each event but never lost consciousness. He denied any recent trauma, falls, contact sports, contact with sick individuals, or travel outside the country, but he had travelled between New Jersey and Chicago. A review of systems was positive for two days of constipation but negative for melena, hematemesis, nausea, vomiting, anorexia, fever, chills, headaches, muscle weakness, easy bruising, and rashes. Other systems were negative.He had a history of glaucoma, benign prostatic hyperplasia, noncancerous colonic polyps, and prehypercholesterolemia but no history of mononucleosis, blood disorder, malaria, liver disease, or cancer. His family history was positive for multiple first-degree family member with colorectal cancer. The patient had had no genetic testing, but he regularly followed up with an oncologist and had frequent colonoscopies (2014 and 2016). He was taking finasteride, latano...
Source: The Case Files - Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: research