[Acute abdomen, gastroenterologists view].

Abdominal pain is a challenging complaint for both primary care and specialist physicians because it is frequently a benign complaint, but it can also be caused by serious pathology (acute abdomen) implying surgery. Physicians are responsible to determine which patients can be safely observed or treated symptomatically and which require further investigations or operation. The overall sensitivity and specificity of the history and physical examination in diagnosing the different causes of abdominal pain is poor, which is especially true for benign conditions. In contrast, the value of ultrasound in patients with acute abdomen is of utmost importance. This paper reviews a sonographic orientated approach to frequently encountered causes of the acute abdomen.