Undisclosed methamphetamines use and acute abdominal pain. A case report

M.D. Gustavo Adolfo Luken, M.D. Benito Omar Rodriguez, M.D. Hector Manuel Riquelme
2022 Zenodo  
Acute abdominal pain continues to demand diagnostic challenges for emergency department clinicians. Nonocclusive mesenteric ischemia is a life-threatening disease, and its diagnostic evaluation mandates an approach that relies on the likelihood of disease, patient history, physical examination, laboratory tests and imaging studies. A debilitated patient-doctor relationship can make a patient purposefully withhold information motivated by the belief that the information would reflect poorly on
more » ... e patient. Withholding important information during an emergency care setting, clinicians ´recommendations and decisions may harm patients. We present a case of a 39-year-old patient who presented with acute abdominal pain following inhaled methamphetamine consumption. The case took place in a rural General Hospital in Mexico with limited imagining and a non-disclosed personal history information of methamphetamine use, extending the patients correct diagnosis and treatment, which was eventually guided by his clinical signs and symptoms, undergoing emergency surgery with an ileocecal resection. Patient recovered after 16 days in hospital and was discharged without any complications. An early and precise diagnosis of patients with acute abdominal pain having a history of methamphetamine use is of importance for fast acting and correct diagnosis and treatment. Keywords: Acute abdominal pain, metamphetamines abuse.
doi:10.5281/zenodo.7183418 fatcat:wkqd37jh2ndqtnjnsum2y3x3wu