Diagnostic yield of plain abdominal radiograph in patients presenting with acute abdominal pain in Jos, North-Central Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Abdominal pain is one of the most commonly encountered complaints seen in the emergency room and constitutes a significant proportion of emergency department visits. An abdominal radiograph is a noninvasive imaging tool commonly utilized in the evaluation of acute abdominal pain. It is cheap, readily available, reproducible, and a quick and reliable technique for evaluating abdominal pain. The aim of this study was to review the diagnostic yield of plain abdominal radiographs in patients presenting with acute abdominal pain in a peripheral facility in Jos, Plateau State Nigeria.
Methods: A seven-year retrospective review of the archive of abdominal radiographs of 638 consecutive patients presenting with acute abdominal pain between January 2015 and December 2022 was conducted. Only 503 patients with complete documentation who met the inclusion criteria were enrolled. Patients with incomplete documentation were excluded from the study.
Results: The study included 271 (53.9%) males and 232 (46.1%) females, giving a male-to-female ratio of 1.2:1 and a mean age of 31.91± 18.76 years. Abdominal x-ray findings were normal in 57.1% and abnormal in 42.9% of patients. The abnormal abdominal findings were intestinal obstruction (23.7%), bowel perforation (7.8%), degenerative spine disease (3.8%), abdominal mass (2.0%), and renal calculus (1.4%).
Conclusion: Abdominal radiograph is an effective, cheap, and complementary imaging tool in a  resource constrained-setting like ours. Its diagnostic yield in acute abdominal pain can be improved by following the   American College of Radiologists' guidelines.