{
  "id": "abdominal-pain",
  "title": "Abdominal pain",
  "lang": "en",
  "source_lang": "en",
  "summary": "Abdominal pain is a symptom felt between the lower chest and pelvis, with causes ranging from digestive, urinary, reproductive, and vascular problems to structures outside the abdomen.",
  "category": "health",
  "subcategory": "diseases",
  "type": "concept",
  "aliases": [
    "stomachache",
    "belly pain",
    "abdominal ache",
    "腹痛"
  ],
  "generated_at": "2026-10-09",
  "model": "pro/claude-haiku-5-5",
  "url": "https://aiwiki.page/en/abdominal-pain/",
  "translations": {
    "zh-Hans": {
      "url": "https://aiwiki.page/zh/abdominal-pain/",
      "json": "https://aiwiki.page/zh/abdominal-pain.json"
    }
  },
  "sections": [
    {
      "heading": "",
      "text": "Abdominal pain is a pain symptom felt in the region between the lower chest and the pelvis. It is a sign that something is happening, not a diagnosis in itself. The same complaint can arise from the digestive tract, the urinary system, reproductive organs, blood vessels, or structures outside the abdomen, so clinical work-up depends on how the pain behaves and what accompanies it."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Definition and clinical classification",
      "text": "Abdominal pain is commonly grouped by duration. Acute abdominal pain is defined as nontraumatic abdominal pain lasting fewer than seven days, and it is a frequent reason for emergency and office visits. Chronic or recurrent pain is assessed differently, because the causes and investigation pathways differ.\n\nClinicians also use simpler frameworks. One approach sorts the problem into one of four general categories: peritonitis, bowel obstruction, vascular catastrophe, or nonspecific abdominal pain. Pain may also be described by its quality. Cramp-like pain is typically not serious most of the time and is likely due to gas and bloating, whereas colicky pain comes in waves, often starts and ends suddenly, and is often severe."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Mechanisms of pain",
      "text": "Pain from the abdomen is generally traced to three neurological sources.\n\nVisceral pain\n\nVisceral pain originates in the internal organs. It results from activation of visceral nociceptors in response to acute stimuli such as distension, inflammation, and ischaemia. The organs respond poorly to cutting or burning, so the characteristic triggers are stretching, inflammation, and reduced blood flow. Because the organs have comparatively few nerve endings, the sensation tends to be diffuse and difficult to localize. Most abdominal pain is visceral in origin.\n\nVisceral afferents travel with the autonomic nervous system. The thoracic and upper abdominal organs receive parasympathetic input through the vagus nerve, and sympathetic input from the thoracolumbar trunk, which is one reason that visceral sensation is distributed in a non-dermatomal pattern.\n\nSomatic (parietal) pain\n\nPain from the lining of the abdominal cavity, the peritoneum, is carried by fibers more like those of the skin. Such pain is sharper and easier to localize, and it is often intense. Inflammation of the parietal peritoneum also produces reflex contraction of the overlying abdominal wall muscles, which clinicians recognize as rigidity, and cutaneous hypersensitivity over the affected area.\n\nReferred pain\n\nReferred pain is felt at a site distant from its source. It occurs because visceral and somatic nerve fibers converge on the same pathways in the spinal cord, and the brain, receiving overlapping signals, misreads the origin and interprets the pain as coming from the skin or body wall. The classic example is pain from an inflamed appendix that is first felt around the umbilicus. The exact central mechanisms remain under study; the most widely cited explanation is central sensitization, in which CNS neurons become sensitized by the enhanced afferent drive from the primary focus.\n\nEach pathway is carried by neurons of the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system, and the interpretation of these signals is shaped by the brain's neuroscientific processing."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Causes",
      "text": "Causes are numerous, and most are not serious. Among adults, the most common causes are gastroenteritis and nonspecific abdominal pain, followed by cholelithiasis, urolithiasis, diverticulitis, and appendicitis. In a pediatric series, viral and bacterial gastroenteritis was the most common group.\n\nDigestive and functional causes\n\nDigestive problems are the most frequent category. Indigestion, constipation and diarrhea can cause acute abdominal pain, as can food allergies or food poisoning. Gas, reflux, and food intolerance are also common. Functional disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome produce recurrent pain without a structural lesion.\n\nInflammatory and infectious causes\n\nInflammation of abdominal organs is a major source of pain. Examples include appendicitis, gallstones and gallbladder inflammation, pancreatitis, diverticulitis, and peptic ulcer disease. Inflammatory bowel conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease also belong here. Infections of the urinary tract and of the kidney can produce pain in the flank or lower abdomen. Systemic infections such as pneumonia may present chiefly as abdominal pain.\n\nObstructive and structural causes\n\nAcute abdominal pain may be caused by bowel obstruction, which is a mechanical blockage. Hernias, volvulus, and intussusception are other structural causes, and complaints must be investigated thoroughly because they often indicate serious underlying pathology such as infection, mechanical obstruction, malignancy, biliary disease, cardiac problems, and GI ischemia.\n\nVascular and metabolic causes\n\nReduced blood supply to the intestines, mesenteric ischemia, which is decreased blood flow to the intestines, and abdominal aortic aneurysm are important, though less common, causes. Metabolic conditions such as diabetes complications and sickle cell disease may also present with abdominal pain.\n\nGynecological and pregnancy-related causes\n\nIn people of reproductive age, pelvic conditions are an important consideration. These include menstrual cramps, ovarian cysts, and ectopic pregnancy. Pelvic inflammatory disease and endometriosis can also refer pain to the abdomen.\n\nExtra-abdominal causes\n\nSome pain felt in the abdomen originates elsewhere. Extra-abdominal causes such as respiratory infections and abdominal wall pain should be considered. Cardiac ischemia, notably in older adults, can present with upper abdominal discomfort, and pulmonary embolism is another example."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Clinical assessment",
      "text": "Evaluation generally begins with a history covering onset, duration, location, character, and associated symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, fever, or changes in bowel habits. The examination includes palpation for tenderness and guarding. Abdominal wall pain must be separated from visceral pain; one bedside maneuver, the Carnett test, compares pain on palpation when the patient lifts the head and tenses the rectus abdominis muscle. Viscerosomatic referral from some functional motility disorders could mimic abdominal wall pain.\n\nSeveral features are generally regarded as warning signs. These include pain that recurs frequently, persists beyond a day, or occurs with fever or rectal bleeding, along with persistent vomiting, blood in stool, urine, or vomit, jaundice, and a swollen, tender abdomen. Imaging and laboratory tests are often needed to confirm diagnoses. Several diagnoses, such as cholecystitis, appendicitis, and mesenteric ischemia, cannot be confirmed clinically and typically require imaging. Common imaging modalities include ultrasonography and computed tomography, and diagnostic reasoning often combines them with evidence-based guidelines."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Management",
      "text": "Treatment is directed at the underlying cause. Doctors treat both somatic and visceral pain by addressing the underlying cause(s) of pain. Symptomatic measures vary with the diagnosis. In chronic visceral pain that does not respond to other measures, interventional options such as the splanchnic nerve block has been found to provide pain relief in patients who fail to obtain relief or only achieve short term relief in some studies."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Special populations",
      "text": "In older adults, abdominal pain is a common occurrence and a frequent catalyst for office and emergency room visits, and the threshold for investigating serious causes is correspondingly low. In children, classification schemes have grouped acute abdominal pain into categories such as surgical emergencies, appendicitis, intestinal obstruction, and infections. Pregnancy changes the differential diagnosis, and conditions such as cancer of abdominal organs are considered in patients with persistent or progressive symptoms."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Limitations and debate",
      "text": "The distinction between visceral, somatic, and referred pain is clinically useful but not always clean. Referred pain in particular can be both somatic and visceral and has to be interpreted judiciously while attempting to reach a diagnosis. Mechanistic understanding is also incomplete: neuroscientists are still trying to understand which anatomical connections are responsible for referred pain. Classification systems themselves have changed over time, from early three-part schemes to multi-group systems in pediatric research. Many patients with abdominal pain receive a nonspecific label after initial evaluation, reflecting the overlap of symptoms across conditions. Anatomical knowledge of the abdomen, from anatomy to organ-level physiology, remains central to interpreting these cases."
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    "pain",
    "neuron",
    "central-nervous-system",
    "neuroscience",
    "digestion",
    "gastroesophageal-reflux-disease",
    "allergy",
    "appendicitis",
    "gallstones",
    "pancreatitis",
    "peptic-ulcer",
    "inflammatory-bowel-disease",
    "kidney",
    "infectious-disease",
    "diabetes-mellitus",
    "sickle-cell-disease",
    "nausea",
    "ultrasonography",
    "x-ray-computed-tomography",
    "diagnosis",
    "evidence-based-medicine",
    "cancer",
    "anatomy",
    "physiology"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Acute Abdominal Pain in Adults: Evaluation and Diagnosis - PubMed",
      "url": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37327158/"
    },
    {
      "title": "Acute abdominal pain. Four classifications can guide assessment and management - PubMed",
      "url": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11899547/"
    },
    {
      "title": "Abdominal pain: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia",
      "url": "https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/003120.htm"
    },
    {
      "title": "Visceral pain - ScienceDirect",
      "url": "https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1472029922000972"
    },
    {
      "title": "3 Types of Abdominal Pain: Visceral, Parietal & Referred - ScienceInsights",
      "url": "https://scienceinsights.org/3-types-of-abdominal-pain-visceral-parietal-referred/"
    },
    {
      "title": "Brazil - Pathophysiology of visceral pain Pathophysiology of visceral pain",
      "url": "https://www.scielo.br/j/rdor/a/fcjRkWvWWx9GQD7dR7Y43NP/?format=html&lang=en"
    },
    {
      "title": "Systemic Classification for a New Diagnostic Approach to Acute Abdominal Pain in Children - PMC",
      "url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4291447/"
    },
    {
      "title": "Abdominal pain & stomach pain causes & treatment",
      "url": "https://www.aurorahealthcare.org/services/gastroenterology-colorectal-surgery/abdominal-pain"
    },
    {
      "title": "Abdominal (Stomach) Pain: Causes and When to See a Doctor",
      "url": "https://www.healthline.com/health/abdominal-pain"
    },
    {
      "title": "Abdominal pain - Causes and definition - Mayo Clinic",
      "url": "https://www.mayoclinic.org/symptoms/abdominal-pain/basics/causes/sym-20050728"
    },
    {
      "title": "Abdominal Pain: Types, Causes, Treatment & Home Remedies",
      "url": "https://www.webmd.com/pain-management/abdominal-pain-causes-treatments"
    },
    {
      "title": "Visceral Abdominal Pain",
      "url": "https://asra.com/news-publications/asra-updates/blog-landing/legacy-b-blog-posts/2019/08/06/visceral-abdominal-pain"
    },
    {
      "title": "Somatic Pain vs. Visceral Pain: What You Should Know",
      "url": "https://www.healthline.com/health/somatic-vs-visceral-pain"
    },
    {
      "title": "Understanding pain abdomen : Current Medicine Research and Practice",
      "url": "https://journals.lww.com/cmre/fulltext/2011/01030/understanding_pain_abdomen__anatomical.5.aspx"
    },
    {
      "title": "Abdominal Pain: Causes, Types & Treatment",
      "url": "https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/4167-abdominal-pain"
    },
    {
      "title": "Key Concept: Pathologies of abdominal structures frequently produce visceral pain and/or referred pain; rebound tenderness indicates peritoneal involvement.",
      "url": "https://www.justintimemedicine.com/curriculum/2280"
    }
  ],
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
}