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Ureteral Stone Mimics Appendicitis: A Point-of-care Ultrasound Case Report

Overview
Journal Clin Pract Cases Emerg Med
Specialty Emergency Medicine
Date 2020 Nov 20
PMID 33217271
Authors
Cindy Shavor
Justine Pagenhardt
Yuanyuan Sun
Clara Kraft
Bradley End
Joseph Minardi
Affiliations
Soon will be listed here.
Abstract

Introduction: Abdominal pain is a common complaint in the emergency department. Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is a rapid modality to evaluate for the etiology.

Case Report: A teenage male presented with symptoms concerning for appendicitis. POCUS revealed a non-peristalsing, non-compressible, tubular structure containing an echogenic stone. This was determined to be a ureteral stone within a dilated ureter, not appendicitis.

Conclusion: We propose a syndromic sonographic approach to right lower quadrant pain (RLQ) that includes the gallbladder, right kidney, bladder, and right adnexa, in addition to RLQ landmarks. This case emphasizes the value of such an approach to avoid diagnostic error.

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