When did your pain start? Does anything make it better or worse? Is it a severe abdominal pain that suddenly started? Did it start suddenly, but it "comes and goes?" Or is your pain hard to describe, but you believe it started gradually and you now constantly feel it? Where exactly do you feel this pain? Did it start in one area of your abdomen and then move to include other areas of your abdomen or body? Are you nauseous? Are there any changes in your bowel movements? What color is your urine? These are just some of the questions to be answered as part of the process of determining exactly what is causing your abdominal pain. There are many illnesses that can cause your pain. But depending on your answers, as well as the results of various tests, your physician should be able to determine the reason.
Crohn's Disease
This disease, as well as a disease called Ulcerative Colitis, is referred to as an Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) because you will have inflammation in various parts of your bowels; that is, in your intestines. In Crohn's, for whichever part of your intestines is affected, your inflammation will go through all of the layers of that intestinal area. But you will have what are called skip lesions, where all layers of one part of your intestines are inflamed, the next part of your intestines will be free of disease and then you will have inflammation in another part; thus, your inflammation "skips." You will have abdominal pain, diarrhea (that is usually watery, not bloody), a low-grade fever and weight loss.
Ulcerative Colitis
This is the other IBD. In this disease, only two layers of your intestines are affected, and you will not have any skip lesions. In Ulcerative Colitis, the inflammation starts in your rectum and moves upward, spreading in a continuous way. You will also have abdominal pain in this disease, but because your rectum is affected, you will have a bloody diarrhea. And you will also have a fever and weight loss.
Intestinal Obstruction
In this illness, your small or large intestines are obstructed (blocked). This will cause you to have abdominal pain, because fluids as well as gas can build up. The obstruction can either be a partial or total blockage. If your small bowels are obstructed, this is usually due to adhesions from a previous abdominal surgery. It can also be due to tumors, hernias, gallstones, or from your bowel twisting or folding in on itself. You will have pain, possibly have fever, and your abdomen will be large. The large intestines are usually obstructed from colon cancer, but it can also be from what is called a fecal impaction. This is where your feces are "packed" so tight that you cannot move your bowels. And just like your small intestines, the large intestines can be obstructed from twisting or folding. Along with having pain, your abdomen will be very distended (large).
Acute Cholecystitis
Coming out of the gallbladder is a duct called the cystic duct. If a gallstone is lodged in that cystic duct for a period of time, the gallbladder can become inflated and inflamed. This will create the environment for a bacterial infection. You will have severe, long-lasting pain in your upper right abdomen, along with nausea, vomiting and a low-grade fever.
Ischemic Colitis
This illness happens from having atherosclerosis in the arteries that supply your large intestines. Due to atherosclerosis, your large intestines (colon) will not get enough blood flow and, therefore, not get enough oxygen. You will have mild pain in your lower left abdomen, followed by bloody diarrhea. You will also have cramping and the area will be very tender.
References
- "Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment 2009"; Stephen McPhee, M.D., Maxine Papadakis, M.D.; 2009
- "Handbook of Pathophysiology"; Elizabeth Corwin, MSN, PhD, FNP; 2000
- "The Merck Manual: Intestinal Obstruction."
