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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staffEveryone experiences abdominal pain from time to time. Other terms used to describe abdominal pain are stomachache, tummy ache, gut ache and bellyache. Abdominal pain can be mild or severe. It may be continuous or come and go. Abdominal pain can be short-lived (acute) or occur over weeks and months (chronic).
Call your doctor right away if you have abdominal pain so severe that you can't move without causing more pain, or you can't sit still or find a comfortable position. Also, seek immediate medical help if pain is accompanied by other worrisome signs and symptoms, such as fever, bloody diarrhea or severe tenderness in your abdomen.
- Abdominal pain syndrome. American College of Gastroenterology. http://patients.gi.org/topics/abdominal-pain/. Accessed April 10, 2013.
- Ferri FF. Ferri's Clinical Advisor 2013: 5 Books in 1. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2012. http://www.mdconsult.com/books/about.do?eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-323-08373-7..00002-9&isbn=978-0-323-08373-7&about=true&uniqId=343863096-23. Accessed April 10, 2013.
- Wilkinson JM (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. April 14, 2013.
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