An 18-year-old white female presents to your clinic today with a 2-week history of intermittent abdominal pain. She also is positive for periodic cramping and diarrhea as well as low grade fever.
She also notes reduced appetite. She notes that She admits smoking ½ PPD for the last 2 years.
Denies any illegal drug or alcohol use. Does note a positive history of Crohn’s Disease. Based on the information provided answer the following questions:
- What are the top 3 differentials you would consider with the presumptive final diagnosis listed first?
According to Epocrates.com (2020), the top three differential diagnoses would be Crohn’s disease which Regueiro & Hashash (2019) describe as an inflammatory disease of the entire gastrointestinal
tract that can affect the walls of the digestive tract transmurally (which means throughout the wall of the intestinal tract). Symptoms would include weight loss, anorexia, fatigue, right sided abdominal
pain that could mimic appendicitis, fever, hematochezia and perianal ulcers (Epocrates.com, 2020).
They further stated that the patient’s symptoms would dictate the severity of the flare. This patient is positive for pain, cramping, diarrhea and low-grade fever which places her in the moderate flare
category.
