Abdominal pain

Scenario to consider: A 35 year old presents with abdominal pain
- What are the differential diagnoses, what questions might you ask, what are the RED FLAG symptoms, what is important on examination?
Review readings and videos.
Consider reading up on some specific diagnoses (GORD, Cholecystitis, IBS, Gastroenteritis, Appendicitis, Pyelonephritis, Constipation, Stomach/Bowel cancer) for example on www.patient.co.uk or CKS e.g. https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/dyspepsia-proven-gord/management/dyspepsia-proven-gord/
Choose how best to explore in your tutorial e.g.
- Jamboard review of differential diagnoses, history questions and points of examination
- role-play with GP as an abdominal pain patient
- watch the Virtual Primary Care video(s) below and explore learning points from the consultation and further reading - you may want to select a part of the video for discussion to watch together in the tutorial

Abdominal pain is a common presenting problem in primary care or A&E. Symptoms may be acute (an 'acute abdomen'), subacute or chronic. There are many possible causes - it is not always possible to reach a definite diagnosis in primary care. What is important is to assess how sick the patient is, to identify any life-threatening problems or 'red flags' and to decide the next step in management - eg, whether to monitor, investigate or refer and how urgently.