Can C-reactive protein and white blood cell count alone rule out an urgent condition in acute abdominal pain?

Up to 10% of all patients at the Emergency Department present for acute abdominal pain. The C-reactive protein (CRP) and white blood cell (WBC) are routinely determined as part of the workup of patients with abdominal pain. Three large prospective cohort studies comprising a total of 2961 adult patients with acute abdominal pain were selected. CRP levels and WBC counts were compared between patients with urgent and nonurgent final diagnoses. These studies conclude that the laboratory values individually are weak discriminators and cannot be used as a triage instrument in the selection of patients with acute abdominal pain requiring additional diagnostic tests.