Case 28-2025: A Man with Abdominal Pain, Fever, and Hypoxemia

Back to news list

Source: NEJM

Original: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2516573?af=R&rss=currentIssue...

Published: 2026-03-25T09:00:02Z

A 36-year-old man was admitted to the hospital with abdominal pain, fever, hypoxemia, and thrombocytopenia.[2][1] The patient also had bacteremia, and imaging studies revealed pulmonary opacification and duodenal thickening.[3][2] The case compares a doctor's diagnostic approach to an artificial intelligence trained on cases from Massachusetts General Hospital.[4] The doctor arrived at the correct diagnosis of intestinal perforation caused by the toothpick.[4] The AI ​​model suggested a perforation or penetration process in the duodenum, but did not recommend endoscopy as a next step.[4] The discussion highlights that AI came close to diagnosis, but was not as complete as a human doctor.[4]