The dilemma of acute non-traumatic abdominal pathologies in the pediatric population depends on the age of the patients and symptoms. Surgical etiologies in patients younger than 2 years of age include intussusception, pyloric stenosis, malrotation and midgut volvulus. In older patients, considerations become closer to differential etiologies in adults including acute appendicitis. Ultrasound and fluoroscopic examinations remain the mainstay for diagnosis that may even be therapeutic such as contrast/air enemas in intussusception reduction. There is an increasing role for CT in appendicitis and renal colic especially in assessing complications; however, it is less favored because it incurs radiation to the patient. This article summarizes the imaging approach to pediatric patients with acute abdominal pathologies presenting to the emergency department, and how imaging is instrumental in guiding diagnosis and treatment, with emphasis on radiation safety, in the context of providing typical imaging findings of each pathology in this pictorial review.
Keywords: abdomen; abdominal imaging; abdominal pain; appendicitis; computed tomography; intussusception; malrotation; ovarian torsion; pediatric emergency; pediatrics; pyloric stenosis; radiograph; testicular torsion; ultrasound.