Causes of diffuse abdominal pain

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Causes Diffuse Abdominal Pain Left Upper Quadrant Left Flank Left Lower Quadrant Epigastric Quadrant Umbilical Region Pelvic Region Right Upper Quadrant Right Flank Right Lower Quadrant Intraperitoneal Extraperitoneal
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

Overview

Diffuse abdominal pain should be aggressively evaluated for a surgical abdomen since it often denotes a potentially life-threatening etiology.

Causes

Life Threatening Causes

Life-threatening causes include conditions which result in death or permanent disability within 24 hours if left untreated.

• Adrenal insufficiency
• Appendicitis
• Gastrointestinal perforation
• Ischemic colitis
• Ketoacidosis
• Mesenteric ischemia
• Necrotizing enterocolitis
• Peritonitis
• Ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm
• Volvulus

Causes of diffuse abdominal pain developed by WikiDoc.org

Common Causes

• Gastrointestinal perforation
• Ischemic colitis
• Mesenteric ischemia
• Peritonitis
• Ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm

Causes of diffuse abdominal pain developed by WikiDoc.org

Causes by Organ System

Cardiovascular	Ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm
Chemical/Poisoning	Lead poisoning
Dental	No underlying causes
Dermatologic	No underlying causes
Drug Side Effect	Narcotic withdrawal, laxatives like Sodium sulfate, potassium sulfate and magnesium sulfate
Ear Nose Throat	No underlying causes
Endocrine	Adrenal insufficiency, ketoacidosis
Environmental	No underlying causes
Gastroenterologic	Acute pancreatitis, appendicitis, bowel obstruction, eosinophilic gastroenteritis, gastroenteritis, gastrointestinal perforation, ileus, inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, ischemic colitis, large bowel obstruction, mesenteric ischemia, necrotizing enterocolitis, Ogilvie syndrome, pelvic inflammatory disease, peritonitis, small bowel obstruction, volvulus
Genetic	Familial Mediterranean fever, hereditary angioedema, porphyria
Hematologic	No underlying causes
Iatrogenic	No underlying causes
Infectious Disease	Malaria, herpes zoster, COVID-19-associated abdominal pain
Musculoskeletal/Orthopedic	No underlying causes
Neurologic	No underlying causes
Nutritional/Metabolic	No underlying causes
Obstetric/Gynecologic	Endometriosis
Oncologic	No underlying causes
Ophthalmologic	No underlying causes
Overdose/Toxicity	No underlying causes
Psychiatric	No underlying causes
Pulmonary	No underlying causes
Renal/Electrolyte	Uremia
Rheumatology/Immunology/Allergy	Lupus mesenteric vasculitis
Sexual	No underlying causes
Trauma	No underlying causes
Urologic	No underlying causes
Miscellaneous	Retroperitoneal fibrosis, spider bite

Causes of diffuse abdominal pain developed by WikiDoc.org

Causes in Alphabetical Order

• Acute pancreatitis
• Adrenal insufficiency
• Appendicitis
• Bowel obstruction
• Endometriosis
• Eosinophilic gastroenteritis
• Familial Mediterranean fever
• Gastroenteritis
• Gastrointestinal perforation
• Hereditary angioedema
• Herpes zoster

• Ileus
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Ischemic colitis
• Ketoacidosis
• Large bowel obstruction
• Lead poisoning
• Lupus mesenteric vasculitis
• Malaria
• Mesenteric ischemia
• Necrotizing enterocolitis

• Ogilvie syndrome
• Pelvic inflammatory disease
• Porphyria
• Peritonitis
• Retroperitoneal fibrosis
• Ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm
• Sickle cell crisis
• Small bowel obstruction
• Spider bite
• Uremia
• Volvulus

Causes of diffuse abdominal pain developed by WikiDoc.org