Pain insensitivity in schizophrenic patients. A surgical dilemma.

Some schizophrenic patients have decreased pain perception while others have decreased pain expression. These factors frequently lead to difficulties in the diagnosis of acute intra-abdominal surgical emergencies. Increasingly large numbers of schizophrenic patients are being cared for in the community. It is therefore imperative that surgeons be acutely aware of the diagnostic dilemmas presented by this group of patients so that misdiagnosis is avoided and appropriate surgical therapy is instituted in a timely manner.