Role of Ultrasound and Computed Tomography in Non-Traumatic Acute Abdomen

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to study, assess, and diagnose causes of acute abdomen accurately,to determine the accuracy of multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) for confirmation of negative, diagnosed, or equivocal ultrasonography (USG) cases, and to establish the role of CT as the primary imaging modality. AIMS: To evaluate the etiology using ultrasound and CT in patients presenting with acute abdomen. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 60 patients were included in this study. USG and CT were done in all patients. Axial, coronal, and saggital reformatted images were studied. Intravenous and oral contrast were also used depending on the clinical condition. RESULT: The various causes of acute abdomen identified in our study include acute appendicitis, acute cholecystitis, acute pancreatitis, nephrolithiasis, intestinal obstruction, hemorrhagic ovarian cyst, GI perforation and others. The sensitivity of CT in detecting appendicitis was significantly higher than that of ultrasound 94%versus 76%. CONCLUSION:The diagnostic accuracy of CT is more than ultrasound.CT misses fewer cases than ultrasound,but both ultrasound and CT can reliably detect common diagnoses causing acute abdominal pain. Ultrasound should be the primary investigation in the acute abdomen.