The diagnosis of acute abdominal pain with computer assistance: worldwide perspective.

This presentation describes the use of computer aided decision support in acute abdominal pain. The development of such support and the feasability of providing it are described with reference to worldwide studies involving nearly 100,000 patients in the UK, the European Community and worldwide. This presentation will give an overview of the experienced gained in these and other studies. As a result of this experience, it will be suggested: a) The diagnosis of acute abdominal pain by inexperienced emergency surgeons remains a difficult problem. 2) Doctors who have been assisted by a computer have, in many instances, improved their diagnostic and decision-making performance. 3) This improvement has not been due to superior "artificial intelligence" of the computer--but due to the computer acting as an educational focus and a stimulus to good clinical practice. 4) On an international level, these studies have been immensely valuable. They have helped bring together different national groups and helped to develop common medical terminology--as well as foster collaborative "spin-off" in terms of research around the world.