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Abdominal pain
By Mayo Clinic staffMayo Clinic Health Manager
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Definition
Abdominal pain is pain and discomfort that occurs in your abdomen. Your abdomen is the section of your torso between your chest and your pelvis. Other terms used to describe the abdomen are stomach, tummy, gut and belly.
Everyone experiences abdominal pain from time to time. Abdominal pain can be mild or severe. And abdominal pain can be short-lived (acute) or occur over weeks and months (chronic).
Most cases of abdominal pain aren't emergencies. But 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 bloody diarrhea or chest pain.
Causes
Most of the time, it's difficult to determine where abdominal pain originates from. And though you may feel pain in one area of your abdomen, it may actually be caused by something in another area of your body — what doctors call referred pain. Few causes of abdominal pain are specific to one area of your abdomen.
Some abdominal pain isn't focused in one area of the abdomen. This type of pain can be caused by:
- Aortic aneurysm
- Appendicitis
- Crohn's disease
- Diabetic ketoacidosis (high levels of ketones in the blood)
- Diverticulitis
- Injury
- Intestinal obstruction
- Intussusception (in children)
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Lead poisoning
- Mesenteric lymphadenitis (swollen lymph nodes in the folds of membrane that hold the abdominal organs in place)
- Pancreatitis (pancreas inflammation)
- Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) (infection of the female reproductive organs)
- Peritonitis (infection of the abdominal lining)
- Sickle cell anemia
- Strained or pulled abdominal muscle
- Ulcerative colitis
- Uremia (buildup of waste products in your blood)
- Urinary tract infection
- Viral gastroenteritis (stomach flu) (stomach inflammation)
Causes
Causes of lower abdominal pain, sometimes described as pelvic pain, include:
- Appendicitis
- Cystitis (bladder inflammation)
- Diverticulitis
- Ectopic pregnancy
- Endometriosis
- Intestinal obstruction
- Mittelschmerz (pain associated with ovulation)
- Ovarian cysts
- Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) (infection of the female reproductive organs)
- Salpingitis (inflammation of the fallopian tubes)
Causes
Causes of upper abdominal pain include:
- Angina (reduced blood flow to the heart)
- Aortic aneurysm
- Appendicitis
- Cholangitis (bile duct inflammation)
- Cholecystitis (gallbladder inflammation)
- Duodenitis (inflammation of the initial portion of the small intestine)
- Gallstones
- GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease)
- Heart attack
- Hepatitis (liver inflammation)
- Intestinal obstruction
- Mesenteric ischemia (decreased blood flow to the intestines)
- Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
- Nonulcer stomach pain
- Pancreatitis (pancreas inflammation)
- Peptic ulcer
- Pericarditis (inflammation of the tissue around the heart)
- Pleurisy (inflammation of the membrane surrounding the lungs)
- Pneumonia
- Pneumothorax (lung collapse caused by air that leaks inside chest wall)
- Pyloric stenosis (in infants)
Causes
Causes of pain in the center of the abdomen include:
- Aortic aneurysm
- Appendicitis
- Diabetic ketoacidosis (high levels of ketones in the blood)
- Injury
- Intestinal obstruction
- Mesenteric thrombosis (blood clot in a vein carrying blood away from your intestines)
- Pancreatitis (pancreas inflammation)
- Uremia (buildup of waste products in your blood)
Causes
Causes of lower left abdominal pain include:
- Aortic aneurysm
- Appendicitis
- Cancer
- Crohn's disease
- Diverticulitis
- Ectopic pregnancy
- Endometriosis
- Inguinal hernia
- Injury
- Intestinal obstruction
- Kidney infection
- Kidney stones
- Mittelschmerz (pain associated with ovulation)
- Ovarian cysts
- Seminal vesiculitis (inflammation of the seminal vesicles)
- Torn colon
- Tuboovarian abscess (pus-filled pocket involving a fallopian tube and an ovary)
- Ulcerative colitis
Causes
Causes of upper left abdominal pain include:
- Angina (reduced blood flow to the heart)
- Aortic aneurysm
- Cancer
- Diverticulitis
- Empyema (infection of the lining around the lungs)
- Enlarged spleen (splenomegaly)
- Fecal impaction (hardened stool that can't be eliminated)
- Gastritis (inflammation of the stomach lining)
- Heart attack
- Hiatal hernia
- Injury
- Kidney infection
- Kidney stones
- Pancreatitis (pancreas inflammation)
- Pneumonia
- Pulmonary infarction (loss of blood flow to the lungs)
- Pyloric stenosis (in infants)
- Ruptured spleen
- Shingles
- Spleen infection
- Splenic abscess (pus-filled pocket in the spleen)
- Torn colon
Causes
Causes of lower right abdominal pain include:
- Aortic aneurysm
- Appendicitis
- Cancer
- Cholecystitis (gallbladder inflammation)
- Diverticulitis
- Ectopic pregnancy
- Endometriosis
- Inguinal hernia
- Injury
- Intestinal obstruction
- Kidney infection
- Kidney stones
- Mittelschmerz (pain associated with ovulation)
- Ovarian cysts
- Salpingitis (inflammation of the fallopian tubes)
- Seminal vesiculitis (inflammation of the seminal vesicles)
- Tuboovarian abscess (pus-filled pocket involving a fallopian tube and an ovary)
- Viral gastroenteritis (stomach flu) (stomach inflammation)
Causes
Causes of upper right abdominal pain include:
- Appendicitis
- Cholangitis (bile duct inflammation)
- Diverticulitis
- Fecal impaction (hardened stool that can't be eliminated)
- Gallbladder cancer
- Gallstones
- Gastritis (inflammation of the stomach lining)
- Hepatitis (liver inflammation)
- Hiatal hernia
- Injury
- Intestinal obstruction
- Kidney cancer
- Kidney infection
- Kidney stones
- Liver abscess (pus-filled pocket in the liver)
- Liver cancer
- Liver hemangioma
- Pancreatic cancer
- Pancreatitis (pancreas inflammation)
- Peptic ulcer
- Pericarditis (inflammation of the tissue around the heart)
- Pleurisy (inflammation of the membrane surrounding your lungs)
- Pneumonia
- Pulmonary infarction (loss of blood flow to the lungs)
- Pyloric stenosis (in infants)
- Shingles
- Stomach cancer
When to see a doctor
Call 911 or emergency medical assistance
Seek help if your abdominal pain is severe and is associated with:
- Trauma, such as an accident or injury
- Pressure or pain in your chest
Seek immediate medical attention
Have someone drive you to urgent care or the emergency room if:
- Pain is so severe that you can't sit still or need to curl into a ball to find relief
- Pain is accompanied by bloody stools, persistent nausea and vomiting, skin that appears yellow, severe tenderness when you touch your abdomen or swelling of the abdomen
Schedule a doctor's visit
Make an appointment with your doctor if your abdominal pain worries you or lasts more than a few days.
In the meantime, find ways to ease your pain. For instance, eat smaller meals if your pain is accompanied by indigestion. Avoid taking over-the-counter pain relievers such as aspirin or ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, others) because these can cause stomach problems that may worsen abdominal pain.
- Ferri FF. Ferri's Clinical Advisor 2009. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2009:1031-1033. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/109418463-2/0/1701/0.html. Accessed Nov. 6, 2008.
- Schiller LR. Abdominal Pain. American College of Gastroenterology. http://www.acg.gi.org/patients/gihealth/aps.asp. Accessed Nov. 8, 2008.
- Peterson DM (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale/Phoenix, Ariz. Nov. 26, 2008.
