Question

A 72 year-old man presents with acute left lower quadrant abdominal pain. He has nausea, vomiting, and constipation. He has a fever of 101° F and guarding and rebound tenderness in his left lower quadrant. His white blood cell count is elevated. He has no prior history of gastrointestinal disease. Which of the following is the most likely diagnosis? A. Inflammatory bowel disease B. Irritable bowel syndrome C. Viral gastroenteritis D. Acute diverticulitis

Answer 1

Based on the symptoms, I'm leaning towards acute diverticulitis. It's the only diagnosis that matches the abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, constipation, fever, and elevated white blood cell count. Additionally, the location of the tenderness matches up with the location of the diverticulosis, and the lack of prior GI history eliminates inflammatory bowel disease as a possible diagnosis.