Near miss abdominal pain.

An 18-year-old adolescent with intermittent colicky abdominal pain for 4 months was admitted to a Medical Emergency Assessment Unit for further investigation of possible colitis, after being reviewed by a surgeon in Accident and Emergency. Initially he was treated for a urinary tract infection, however a CT of the abdomen revealed appendicular perforation with pelvic abscess formation. The patient required an urgent laparoscopy and was discharged without complications.