Emergent complications of the newer anticonvulsants.

Background: Multiple new anticonvulsants have been introduced recently and they are supplanting the older medications. Whereas the older drugs have well-recognized side effects, both in typical therapeutic doses and in overdosage, the properties of the newer ones are unique and largely unknown to all but sub-specialists.

Objectives: This article gives a concise overview of the potential complications of these new medications in both therapeutic use and overdose.

Acute abdominal pain. Four classifications can guide assessment and management.

Abdominal pain is a common occurrence in older persons and a frequent catalyst for office and emergency room visits. Complaints must be investigated thoroughly because they often indicate serious underlying pathology such as Infection, mechanical obstruction, malignancy, biliary disease, cardiac problems, and GI ischemia. One means of overcoming a sprawling differential diagnosis is to determine whether the problem falls into one of four general categories: peritonitis, bowel obstruction, vascular catastrophe, or nonspecific abdominal pain.