Abdominal pain is a symptom and not a disease. Its intensity does not always reflect the severity of the cause.
The most frequent causes involved are viral gastroenteritis, constipation, irritable bowel, food intolerance and mild intoxication, menstruation, urinary tract infection and muscle fatigue.
It may be accompanied by other symptoms and signs such as abdominal bloating, altered bowel movements and wind.
It is a diagnosis of exclusion, being reached after ruling out other diseases.
It is recommended to improve eating habits and use antacids and/or analgesics to alleviate pain.
Generally, it is not necessary to consult an emergency room except in the presence of a hard abdomen sensitive to touch, resistance to analgesia, inability to defecate, vomiting or bloody stools, trauma or the possibility of pregnancy.
- Robert M Penner, Mary B Fishman, Sumit R Majumdar. Evaluation of the adult with abdominal pain. UpToDate. Feb 22, 2016.
- Mariam R Chacko, Eric Chiou. Functional abdominal pain in children and adolescents: Management in primary care. UpToDate. Oct 26, 2016.
- Robert M Penner, Mary B Fishman, Sumit R Majumdar. Causes of abdominal pain in adults. UpToDate. feb 22, 2016.
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