This chapter describes the more specialist types of abdominal examination that are usually only carried out if a particular disorder or pathology of a specific organ is suspected. A suspicion of this kind may result from a general abdominal examination, possibly combined with other clinical data. We discuss the following examinations and their significance: the kidneys (e.g. structural abnormalities and pyelonephritis), the bladder (e.g. urinary retention), the gall bladder (e.g. cholecystitis or other bile duct pathology), ascites (e.g. liver pathology or malignancy), and acute abdomen (e.g. peritonitis, appendicitis, pancreatitis).
