College
School of Osteopathic Medicine
Keywords
Pulmonary Embolism, Abdominal Pain, Referred Pain
Date of Presentation
5-5-2022 12:00 AM
Poster Abstract
Pulmonary embolism is a common yet potentially life-threatening diagnosis that should not be missed in the Emergency Department. Common presenting symptoms include dyspnea, pleuritic chest pain, cough, hemoptysis, syncope or pre-syncope. Less often, however, presenting symptoms can include abdominal pain. A clinician should recognize that pain adjacent to the diaphragm (including the lower chest and upper abdomen), can be secondary to underlying pathology either above or below the diaphragm. Here we describe an unusual case of pleuritic, post-prandial, right upper quadrant abdominal pain that was a result of pulmonary embolism.
Disciplines
Cardiovascular Diseases | Cardiovascular System | Emergency Medicine | Medicine and Health Sciences | Pulmonology
Included in
Cardiovascular Diseases Commons, Cardiovascular System Commons, Emergency Medicine Commons, Pulmonology Commons
Diaphragmatic Adjacencies: Pulmonary Embolism Presenting as Abdominal Pain
Pulmonary embolism is a common yet potentially life-threatening diagnosis that should not be missed in the Emergency Department. Common presenting symptoms include dyspnea, pleuritic chest pain, cough, hemoptysis, syncope or pre-syncope. Less often, however, presenting symptoms can include abdominal pain. A clinician should recognize that pain adjacent to the diaphragm (including the lower chest and upper abdomen), can be secondary to underlying pathology either above or below the diaphragm. Here we describe an unusual case of pleuritic, post-prandial, right upper quadrant abdominal pain that was a result of pulmonary embolism.
