BMJ 2002;325:1387 ( 14 December )

Papers

Evaluation of early abdominopelvic computed tomography in patients with acute abdominal pain of unknown cause: prospective randomised study

Chaan S Ng, lecturer, ^a Christopher J E Watson, senior lecturer, ^b Christopher R Palmer, medical statistician, ^c Teik Choon See, specialist registrar, ^a Nigel A Beharry, specialist registrar, ^a Barbara A Housden, superintendent radiographer, ^a J Andrew Bradley, professor, ^b Adrian K Dixon, professor. ^a

^a Department of Radiology, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge CB2 2QQ, ^b Department of Surgery, Addenbrooke's Hospital, ^c Centre for Applied Medical Statistics, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 2SR

Correspondence to: C S Ng, Department of Radiology, Box 57, MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Houston, TX 77030-4009, USA cng{at}mdanderson.org

Objectives: To evaluate the impact of early abdominopelvic computed tomography in patients with acute abdominal pain of unknown cause on length of hospital stay and accuracy of diagnosis.
Design: Randomised, prospective controlled trial.
Setting: Teaching hospital in England.
Participants: 120 patients admitted with acute abdominal pain for which no immediate surgical intervention or computed tomography was indicated.
Intervention: 55 participants were prospectively randomised to early computed tomography (within 24 hours of admission) and 65 to standard practice (radiological investigations as indicated).
Main outcome measures: Length of hospital stay, accuracy of diagnosis, and, owing to a possible effect on inpatient mortality, deaths during the study.
Results: Early computed tomography reduced the length of hospital stay by 1.1 days (geometric mean 5.3 days (range 1 to 31) v 6.4 days (1 to 60)), but the difference was non-significant (95% confidence interval, 8% shorter stay to 56% longer stay, P=0.17). Early computed tomography missed significantly fewer serious diagnoses. Seven inpatients in the standard practice arm died. Only 50% (59 of 118) of diagnoses on admission were correct at follow up at 6 months, but this improved to 76% (90) of diagnoses after 24 hours.
Conclusions: Early abdominopelvic computed tomography for acute abdominal pain may reduce mortality and length of hospital stay. It can also identify unforeseen conditions and potentially serious complications.

What is already known on this topic Computed tomography improves the accuracy of diagnosis of several acute abdominal conditions Uncontrolled studies have shown improvements in accuracy of diagnosis after computed tomography; none have described an effect on mortality What this study adds Early abdominopelvic computed tomography for acute abdominal pain can identify unforeseen serious abdominal conditions It may also reduce length of hospital stay and might reduce inpatient mortality

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