Acute abdominal pain.

Acute abdominal pain is a daily problem in a busy pediatric practice and in hospital emergency rooms. An initial, carefully performed history and physical examination should differentiate the child who has a surgical disease from one who requires medical therapy or only reassurance. Whenever there is doubt about the diagnosis, the child must be admitted to the hospital for observation and appropriate laboratory examinations. This will allow for the early diagnosis of appendicitis and other diseases requiring an operation and will prevent needless operations on children with medical illnesses.