A 24-year-old woman, pregnant with a fetus at 22 weeks gestational age, came to the OB triage area with abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting. She described a sharp pain that began the night before, starting at the umbilicus and radiating toward her right side; she rated it 7 out of 10.
The patient said there had been no contractions, vaginal bleeding or fluid leaking, or dysuria. She reported having GERD at times. She experienced chills the day before, but no fever. She had similar pain 1 month before that resolved spontaneously, and for which a cause was never determined. She had nothing significant in her medical history; family history was noncontributory.
On examination, she was afebrile, normotensive, and in no apparent distress. Her heart and lungs were normal. Her abdomen was soft and gravid with a fundal height of 22 cm. Bowel sounds were present in all 4 quadrants. Fetal heart tones were normal, and there was no indication of contractions. Her abdomen was diffusely tender, with significant tenderness to deep palpation in the right upper quadrant at first. There was no rebound or guarding. The psoas sign was negative. The obturator sign was positive, with increased pain 4 out of 10 in the right lower quadrant. There were no abdominal masses. Digital rectal examination revealed no rectal masses, and a guaiac stool test result was negative. A few hours later, the tenderness seemed to move toward the right lower quadrant (FIGURES 1 AND 2).
What is the most likely diagnosis?
How do the ultrasound images help you make the diagnosis?
FIGURE 1
Ultrasound of RLQ
FIGURE 2
A second ultrasound of RLQ
