Virgin abdomen

Last revised by Yahya Baba on 26 Dec 2020

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

Citation:

Bell D, Baba Y, Virgin abdomen. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 29 Nov 2023) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-62062

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-62062

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/62062

rID:

62062

Article created:

31 Jul 2018, Daniel J Bell ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was created Daniel J Bell had no recorded disclosures.

View Daniel J Bell's current disclosures

Last revised:

26 Dec 2020, Yahya Baba ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised Yahya Baba had no recorded disclosures.

View Yahya Baba's current disclosures

Revisions:

3 times, by 2 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures

Systems:

Gastrointestinal

Synonyms:

Virgin abdomens

Virgin abdomen is used to describe the abdomen of a patient who has never had any surgical procedure on their abdomen. It is usually used in the context of someone presenting with an acute small bowel obstruction and whether adhesions might be the underlying etiology.

The conventional wisdom being that without a prior history of intraperitoneal surgery the odds of adhesions being the etiology are lowered. However recently a study has questioned this long-held assumption ¹.