Abdominal pain is a common chief complaint, accounting for 6.7% of the 114 million United States Emergency Department visits in 2003. Abdominal pain remains a condition at high risk for delayed or missed diagnosis, and evaluation of abdominal pain in the elderly presents a greater challenge than in any other age group. The signs and symptoms may be atypical, the differential diagnosis is vast, the workup is time-consuming, and the stakes are high. The mortality of elderly patients admitted with abdominal pain is nine times that of younger patients. As the geriatric population continues to grow much faster than any other age group, practitioners can expect to see increasing numbers of elderly patients in the office and the ED – including those with acute abdominal pain.
In this activity, we focus on four commonly missed diagnoses that present as acute abdominal pain. We present and discuss several cases to examine some of the common reasons for delayed or missed diagnosis in the elderly. After completing this activity, practitioners should be able to: evaluate patients 65 years and older who present with acute abdominal pain with an awareness of the pertinent morbidity and mortality statistics in order to ensure that these patients receive prompt and focused attention; compare and contrast the presentation of acute cholecystitis in the geriatric age group with that found in younger patients so that the diagnosis is not missed during the evaluation of patients 65 years and older who present with acute abdominal pain; and determine when a patient encounter may involve heuristics and biases, or cognitive dispositions to respond, in order to improve clinical decision-making and reduce the incidence of diagnostic errors in the evaluation of geriatric patients with acute abdominal pain.
Credit & MOC Details
Credit information is provided by the course provider. We recommend confirming credit eligibility with the provider or your licensing board before starting the activity.
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- Case-based learning
- Credit · Up to 2 credits
- MOC · Up to 2 points
- Fee · varies
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ReleasedAug 20, 2025
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Last day to claim creditAug 20, 2028 2 years left
