Kallakuri Sailaja1 , G. Rajani Devi2
BACKGROUND Chronic abdominal pain (CAP) is a recurrent condition which may last for 3 days/month in the last 3 months. This study was conducted to evaluate the utility of laparoscopy as an effective diagnostic tool in patients with CAP and also to evaluate the common underlying causes for CAP. METHODS This is a prospective longitudinal study, conducted in the department of general surgery, Rangaraya Medical College, Kakinada. Patients with history of abdominal pain for 3 months or more with undiagnosed cause were included in the study. Detailed history of patients was documented before the clinical examination and the findings were recorded. Then laparoscopy was done under general anaesthesia. Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) was used to determine pain pre- and post-scopy. RESULTS Among the 50 patients included in the study, age ranged between 19 to 60 years. Male to female ratio was 0.4. Duration of pain ranged between 3 to 12 months. Right lower abdominal quadrant was the most common area where pain was noticed by the patient; majority (40%) of patients reported VAS score of 4; 96% (48) patients had positive outcome 3 months after post-diagnostic laparoscopy. CONCLUSIONS The study established that diagnostic laparoscopy is an effective tool for the diagnosis and treatment of patients with CAP.
