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Clinical Presentation of AAA
Everyone is familiar with the "classic," textbook, presentation of AAA:
- Abdominal pain
- Pulsatile mass
- Hypotension
This presentation, however, is not all that common. Many patients simply present with unexplained abdominal and/or flank pain.
Consider the diagnosis in anyone with risk factors (i.e. older folks, family history, etc) who presents with abdominal and/or flank pain. In most cases, CT scanning of this group of patients is the way to go.
And, one last pearl: put the US probe on early. May make a huge difference in time to diagnosis.
Be afraid, be very afraid.
References
J Vasc Surg, 2007