Lower Abdominal Pain
Learn more about lower abdominal pain with NetFit.co.uk. The abdomen is the area and internal cavity situated between the ribs and the pelvis (although the vertebrae and back are not generally considered to be part of the abdomen).
When describing the location of abdominal pain one must visualize the abdomen with a vertical and horizontal line meeting through the middle cross secting the area into four quarters. The quarters are then described as upper right and upper left quadrant and lower left and lower right quadrant.
Abdominal pain can occur for an endless number of reasons from something as harmless as flatulence to a clinical symptom of a more life threatening condition for example appendicitis.
Pain in the upper right quadrant can be associated with problems with the liver, gallbladder or biliary tree. However, pain in the upper right quadrant (or upper left) combined with chest pains and fever could also be due to pneumonia. In this instance the pain is known as referred pain, where the cause of the abdominal pain is situated outside of the abdomen. Other causes of referred pain include groin strain, inflammation around the spine and kidney disease.
Therefore, a number of factors should be considered when diagnosing the cause of any abdominal pain including the severity, location and duration of the pain and any associated symptoms or aggravating factors.
Some important causes of abdominal pain include; Sickle cell anemia, thrombosis, bowel obstruction, appendicitis, perforated ulcer, pancreatitis, lead poisoning and infections by micro-organisms (including bacteria and viruses) and parasites. Any persistent pain with or without associated symptoms should be referred to your GP.
Additional medical conditions:
