Abdominal allergic reaction syndrome: a tentative definition.
- 1Department of Emergency Medicine, Beijing Jishuitan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
Abstract
Background
Some patients with acute abdominal pain present with imaging findings suggestive of severe intestinal pathology, yet they remain hemodynamically stable and respond to corticosteroids rather than surgery. Recognizing this pattern early can prevent unnecessary laparotomy.Cases
Three female patients (aged 91, 78, and 57 years) admitted to the emergency department presented with acute abdominal pain and diffuse bowel wall edema on a CT scan. Despite alarming imaging results, all three patients remained hemodynamically stable. The symptoms improved rapidly with intravenous methylprednisolone, and all patients were discharged without surgery.Conclusions
We propose Abdominal Allergic Reaction Syndrome (AARS) as a preliminary recognition framework for this clinico-radiological pattern. AARS is not intended to replace specific diagnoses such as immunoglobulin A (IgA) vasculitis or lupus enteritis. Rather, it serves as an early identifier at a stage when the underlying etiology remains unclear. The core features (hemodynamic stability and clinico-radiological mismatch, supported by normal lactate levels) may help emergency physicians avoid unnecessary surgery while proceeding with the diagnostic workup. The term "allergic" is used here in its broader immunological sense (encompassing all type I-IV hypersensitivity reactions) and is not restricted to IgE-mediated reactions.
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BibTeX
@article{you2026abdominal,
title = {{Abdominal allergic reaction syndrome: a tentative definition.}},
author = {Meiyi You and Xinglan Liao and Xueqi Li and Lan Guan and Zhaoxing Tian},
journal = {Frontiers in medicine},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fmed.2026.1929771},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42898285},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Abdominal allergic reaction syndrome: a tentative definition.
AU - Meiyi You
AU - Xinglan Liao
AU - Xueqi Li
AU - Lan Guan
AU - Zhaoxing Tian
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/05
JO - Frontiers in medicine
DO - 10.3389/fmed.2026.1929771
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42898285
AB - Background Some patients with acute abdominal pain present with imaging findings suggestive of severe intestinal pathology, yet they remain hemodynamically stable and respond to corticosteroids rather than surgery. Recognizing this pattern early can prevent unnecessary laparotomy.Cases Three female patients (aged 91, 78, and 57 years) admitted to the emergency department presented with acute abdominal pain and diffuse bowel wall edema on a CT scan. Despite alarming imaging results, all three patients remained hemodynamically stable. The symptoms improved rapidly with intravenous methylprednisolone, and all patients were discharged without surgery.Conclusions We propose Abdominal Allergic Reaction Syndrome (AARS) as a preliminary recognition framework for this clinico-radiological pattern. AARS is not intended to replace specific diagnoses such as immunoglobulin A (IgA) vasculitis or lupus enteritis. Rather, it serves as an early identifier at a stage when the underlying etiology remains unclear. The core features (hemodynamic stability and clinico-radiological mismatch, supported by normal lactate levels) may help emergency physicians avoid unnecessary surgery while proceeding with the diagnostic workup. The term "allergic" is used here in its broader immunological sense (encompassing all type I-IV hypersensitivity reactions) and is not restricted to IgE-mediated reactions.
SN - 2296-858X
ER -