What causes abdominal pain?

Abdominal pain is caused by inflammation (for example,

appendicitis, diverticulitis, colitis ), by stretching or distention of an
organ (for example, obstruction of the intestine, blockage of a bile
duct by gallstones, swelling of the liver with hepatitis), or by loss of
the supply of blood to an organ (for example, ischemic colitis).
To complicate matters, however, abdominal pain also can occur
without inflammation, distention or loss of blood supply. An
important example of this latter type of pain is the irritable bowel
syndrome (IBS). It is not clear what causes the abdominal pain in
IBS, but it is believed to be due either to abnormal contractions of
the intestinal muscles (for example, spasm) or abnormally sensitive
nerves within the intestines that give rise to painful sensations
inappropriately (visceral hyper-sensitivity). These latter types of
pain are often referred to as functional pain because no recognizable
(visible) causes for the pain have been found - at least not yet.

What is abdominal pain?

Abdominal pain is pain that is felt in the abdomen. The abdomen is
an anatomical area that is bounded by the lower margin of the ribs
and diaphragm above, the pelvic bone (pubic ramus) below, and the
flanks on each side. Although abdominal pain can arise from the
tissues of the abdominal wall that surround the abdominal cavity
(such as the skin and abdominal wall muscles), the term abdominal
pain generally is used to describe pain originating from organs
within the abdominal cavity. Organs of the abdomen include the
stomach, small intestine, colon, liver, gallbladder, spleen, and
pancreas.
Doctors determine the cause of abdominal pain by relying on:
 1. characteristics of the pain,
2. findings on physical examination,
3. laboratory, radiological, and endoscopic testing, and
4. surgery.
Characteristics of the pain
The following information, obtained by taking a patient's history, is
important in helping doctors determine the cause of pain:
• The way the pain begins. For example, abdominal pain that
comes on suddenly suggests a sudden event, for example, the
interruption of the supply of blood to the colon (ischemia) or
obstruction of the bile duct by a gallstone (biliary colic).
• The location of the pain.
o Appendicitis typically causes pain in the right lower
abdomen, the usual location of the appendix.
o Diverticulitis typically causes pain in the left lower
abdomen where most colonic diverticuli are located.
o Pain from the gallbladder (biliary colic or cholecystitis)
typically is felt in the right upper abdomen where the
gallbladder is located.
o The pain of acid-related diseases - gastroesophageal reflux
disease (GERD) or duodenal ulcers - typically show
periodicity, that is, a period of weeks or months during
which the pain is worse followed by periods of weeks or
months during which the pain is better.
• What relieves the pain.
 o The pain of IBS and constipation often is relieved
temporarily by bowel movements and may be associated
with changes in bowel habit.
o Pain due to obstruction of the stomach or upper small
intestine may be relieved temporarily by vomiting which
reduces the distention that is caused by the obstruction.
o Eating or taking antacids may temporarily relieve the pain
of ulcers of the stomach or duodenum because both food
and antacids neutralize (counter) the acid that is
responsible for irritating the ulcers and causing the pain.
o Pain that awakens patients from sleep is more likely to be
due to non-functional causes.
• Associated signs and symptoms.
o The presence of fever suggests inflammation.
o Diarrhea or rectal bleeding suggests an intestinal cause of
the pain.
o The presence of fever and diarrhea suggest inflammation
of the intestines that may be infectious or non-infectious
(ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease).