INTRODUCTION A 76-year-old male presented to the emergency department complaining of intense abdominal pain. He reported one week earlier an upper respiratory illness with violent coughing spells. Past medical history included recent percutaneous coronary intervention for a myocardial infarction 6 months prior where he received three drug-eluting stents and was subsequently discharged home on P...

BACKGROUND Spontaneous rectus sheath hematoma (RSH) is an uncommon and frequently misdiagnosed cause of acute abdominal pain. The purpose of this study is to present our experiences in the diagnosis and treatment of spontaneous RSH. METHODS This is a retrospective study of the medical histories of 15 patients admitted to our emergency surgery unit between January 2000 and July 2009 and diagno...

Although abdominal pain is a common presentation in emergency departments, rectus sheath hematoma (RSH) is among the rarest diagnosis. Here we present 2 cases of RSH likely caused by coughing due to upper respiratory tract infection. The two described cases were diagnosed by bedside ultrasonography and confirmed as RSH by computed tomography. Review of patient history and use of ultrasonography...