A case of Stanford type B acute aortic dissection presenting as acute abdomen

Abstract

Acute aortic dissection is a medical emergency with high mortality. It presents mostly with typical features of sudden onset chest pain that is tearing in nature and radiates to the back, neck, or the abdomen. However, it may present with atypical features like abdominal pain, nonspecific abdominal or chest discomfort, altered bowel habit, vomiting, and features of acute renal dysfunction leading to diagnostic dilenma. These atypical features are mostly reported in western population. We report a case of 48-year old man with Stanford type B acute aortic dissection that was initially diagnosed as acute abdomen.