Abdominal Wall Pain
When abdominal pain is chronic, with minimal or no relationship to eating or bowel function but often a relationship to posture (i.e., lying, sitting, standing), the abdominal wall should be suspected as the source of pain.
CT scan should be able to identify most of the internal organ problems as well as some of the abdominal wall disorders.
Internal abdominal organ problems include hepatitis, hepatic abscess, gall bladder or billiary tract disease, peptic ulcer, subacute appendicitis, renal pain etc.
Common Abdominal Wall Problems
- Hernia
- Rectus nerve entrapment
- Thoracic lateral cutaneous nerve entrapment
- Ilioinguinal and iliohypogastric nerve entrapment
- Diabetic radiculopathy
- Abdominal wall tear or hematoma
- Spontaneous rectus sheath hematoma
- Desmoid tumor
- Spinal nerve irritation
- Slipping rib syndrome
- Myofascial pain
Internal organ problems are picked better by the radiological investigations like CT scan and ultrasound. But abdominal wall disorders are diagnosed more often on careful physical examination by a doctor, preferably a general surgery specialist.
Diagnostic investigations may include CT scan, ultrasound and sometimes MRI.
