A 76-year-old male presented with abdominal cutaneous nerve entrapment syndrome: A case report

Karolina Kalanj^1*Matija Herceg²Antonio Ivanac²Sara Kalanj²Mirta Peček³Ana Brundula⁴

• ¹Andrija Stampar School of Public Health, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
• ²School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
• ³Institute for Emergency Medicine Virovitica - Podravina County, Virovitica, Croatia
• ⁴Polyclinic Amruševa, Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia

Abdominal pain is a common complaint in emergency departments, with up to 20% of patient visits involving abdominal and/or flank pain. Recently published studies indicate that anterior cutaneous nerve entrapment syndrome (ACNES) is a more common cause of these symptoms than previously believed, with up to 2% of patients presenting to the emergency department at teaching hospitals being ultimately diagnosed with the condition. Importantly, ACNES is often misdiagnosed as another cause of abdominal pain. We present a 76-year-old patient with chief complaint of persistent abdominal pain localised to the right side of the umbilicus over a six week period associated with a burning sensation of the skin. Following unremarkable laboratory, imaging and endoscopy findings, the diagnosis of ACNES was confirmed with simple Carnett's sign. This is the first report which highlights that interventional treatment was combined with exogenous factors important for repairing nerve damage.