A Rare but Growing Cause of Abdominal Pain

​BY MARK GRANT, DO, & SARAH CARIGNAN, PA-CThe patient had been playing a round of golf a week earlier, and thought he had strained a muscle in his right lower back while swinging a golf club. The patient continued his golf workouts throughout the week, which included lifting weights and swinging a golf club with minimal pain.​The day prior to ED presentation, he began having worsening right-sided back pain, and began ibuprofen and ice treatment, which helped minimally. The patient woke up experiencing worsening back pain that radiated from his right flank to his right lower abdominal area. He reported increased pain with ambulation, and on presentation was experiencing sweats and a fever. His mother reported that the patient had a temperature of 101°F.He had no appetite, was nauseated, and complained of pain in the right flank area that radiated to the right lower abdominal area. The patient's heart rate was 104 bpm, blood pressure was 115/49 mm Hg, oxygen saturation was 97% on room air, and his temperature was 99.3°F orally. The patient denied testicular pain, dysuria, hematuria, diarrhea, constipation, and URI symptoms. He had an unremarkable past medical history, no prior surgeries, no significant family history or social history, and was not sexually active.Physical exam findings revealed an unremarkable ENT exam. He was tachycardic without any murmurs, and his lungs were clear to auscultation. The patient's abdominal exam revealed pain at McBurney's point, no r...
Source: The Case Files - Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: research