Acute Abdominal Pain: Evaluation of Lactate Value as Predictive Factor of Surgical Issue
Acute Abdominal Pain: Evaluation of Lactate Value as Predictive Factor of Surgical Issue
Abdominal pain is one of the most common reasons for consultation in Emergency Departments
 (ED) worldwide. The challenge for physicians is to not misdiagnose a surgical emergency. The
 actual gold standard for diagnosis is computed tomography (CT). However with this procedure
 there is high radiation exposure and a risk factor of radiation-induced cancers, therefore
 alternative diagnostic techniques should be considered. The aim of this study is to evaluate
 the performance of measuring venous lactate in patients presenting with acute abdominal pain
 in ED.

 In this single-center, prospective, non-interventional study, the diagnostic accuracy of
 venous lactate in order to detect surgical emergencies is evaluated. The hypothesis made here
 is that venous lactatemia is a positive predictive factor of surgical emergencies in patients
 with acute abdominal pain.
Abdominal pain is one of the most common reasons for consultation worldwide in Emergency
 Departments (ED). The challenge for physicians is to not misdiagnose a surgical emergency.
 The actual gold standard for diagnosis is computed tomography (CT). However with this
 procedure there is high radiation exposure and a risk factor of radiation-induced cancers,
 therefore alternative diagnostic techniques should be considered. The aim of this study is to
 evaluate the diagnostic performance of measuring venous lactate in patients with acute
 abdominal pain in ED.

 A single-center, prospective, non-interventional study, will be conducted between June 2016
 and January 2017 in the university emergency department of Nice, France. Inclusion criteria
 are patients aged 18 and over, suffering from abdominal pain for seven days or less and
 requiring a blood test to help with diagnosis.

 The primary outcome is to determine if the value of venous lactate is a predictive factor of
 emergency surgery in patients with acute abdominal pain.

 The secondary outcome is to determine if the "strong ion gap", first defined in "The Stewart
 Approach", is a predictive factor of emergency surgery in patients with acute abdominal pain.

 A blood test will be performed when patients are admitted to the ED. Seven days after being
 admitted to the ED, patients' outcome will be assessed by consulting patients' medical
 records or by phone call.
Inclusion Criteria:

 -  Patients over 18 years old

 -  Patient presenting acute abdominal pain since 7 days or less

 -  Need of blood sample confirmed by physician

 -  Affiliation to french social security system

 -  Informed Consent

 Exclusion Criteria:

 -  Post traumatic abdominal pain / occurrence of abdominal trauma in the 7 days before ED
 visit

 -  Patients with cirrhosis classified as Child-Pugh C