To determine the use of follow-up CT among patients with persistent non-traumatic abdominal pain presented in emergency department

Aim: to determine the value of a short-term follow-up abdominopelvic computed tomography (apct) examination in emergency department pts with persistent abdominal pain & an initially negative ct. place & duration of study: radiology department of three tertiary care teaching hospital from january 2010 to december 2013. methods: approximately 10,000 apcts examinations in there ed. nine hundred fifty-seven patients received two apcts within 1 week for non-traumatic abdominal pain in the ed. results: sixtyfour patients with initially negative apcts presented to the ed within 1 week with persistent abdominal pain and received follow-up apct imaging. the mean follow-up period was 2.6 days. the mean interval period in which the second apct yielded a positive result was 2.0 days. seventy-five percent of follow up examinations were performed with intravenous contrast .twenty-three percent of patients had positive findings on the follow-up examination. seventy-three percent of the follow up positive findings were referable to bowel pathology. the cause of abdominal pain remained elusive at 1 week in 23% of patients. conclusion: short-term follow-up apct examinations in patients with persistent,unexplained abdominal pain may be of benefit if the second apct is performed with intravenous contrast in patients suspected of having bowel pathology.