NCLEX RN Quiz # 1006

NCLEX Examination.

Practice Question # 1006.

Abdominal pain is a common presentation in the outpatient setting and is challenging to diagnose. Abdominal pain is the presenting complaint in 1.5 percent of office-based visits1 and in 5 percent of emergency department visits.2 Although most abdominal pain is benign, as many as 10 percent of patients in the emergency department setting and a lesser percentage in the outpatient setting have a severe or life-threatening cause or require surgery. Therefore, a thorough and logical approach to the diagnosis of abdominal pain is necessary.