Causes of left flank 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]; Mugilan Poongkunran M.B.B.S [2]

Overview

Left flank pain refers to pain that is located below the ribs and above the pelvis and on the left side. Flank pain is often a sign of kidney problems, but it can also point to other pathologies arising from descending colon, small intestine, peritoneum, abdominal muscles and on rare occasion pancreas. Women experience flank pain more commonly than men because of increased risk of urinary tract infections.

Causes

Life Threatening Causes

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

• Abdominal compartment syndrome
• Acute kidney injury
• Acute pancreatitis
• Adrenal hemorrhage
• Eclampsia
• Heavy metal toxicity
• Hepatorenal syndrome
• Ketoacidosis
• Malignant hypertension
• Mesenteric artery ischemia
• Perforated gastric ulcer
• Peritonitis
• Pulmonary embolism
• Pulmonary infarction
• Renal abscess
• Renal artery dissection
• Traumatic splenic rupture

Causes of left flank pain developed by WikiDoc.org

Common Causes

• Abdominal muscle strain
• Acute kidney injury
• Chronic constipation
• Exercise
• Gastroenteritis
• Idiopathic
• Nephrocalcinosis
• Pelvic inflammatory disease
• Pneumonia
• Post streptococcal glomerulonephritis
• Pyelonephritis
• Urinary outflow obstruction
• Urinary tract infection

Causes of left flank pain developed by WikiDoc.org

Causes by Organ System

Cardiovascular	Abdominal aortic aneurysm rupture, ischemic colitis, malignant hypertension, mesenteric artery ischemia, pulmonary embolism, pulmonary infarction, renal artery dissection, renal artery embolism, renal infarction, renal vein thrombosis, rheumatoid vasculitis, splenic artery embolization, splenic infarction, systemic vasculitis
Chemical/Poisoning	Aluminum toxicity, arsenic poisoning, cadmium toxicity, chromium poisoning, copper poisoning, ecstasy overdose, ethylene glycol poisoning, food poisoning, gold, heavy metals, iron poisoning, lead poisoning, mercury poisoning, methanol, organophosphate poisoning, silver poisoning, toxic mushrooms
Dental	No underlying causes
Dermatologic	Scarlet fever, scleroderma, shingles
Drug Side Effect	Aspirin, contrast agents, bleomycin, chemotherapeutic agents, cisplatin, colchicine, cyclosporin, diclofenac, fentanyl toxicity, ibuprofen, indomethacin, malignant hyperthermia, mercaptopurine, methotrexate, metronidazole, naproxen, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), pentamidine, Reye's syndrome, salicylates, statin, steroid abuse, sulindac, tetracycline, thrombolytic therapy, tramadol toxicity, vitamin D toxicity, warfarin
Ear Nose Throat	No underlying causes
Endocrine	Addisonian crisis, adrenal hemorrhage, carcinoid, diabetic ketoacidosis, multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1
Environmental	Organophosphate poisoning
Gastroenterologic	Abdominal compartment syndrome, acute diverticulitis, acute pancreatitis, chronic constipation, collagenous colitis, colon cancer, colonic lymphoma, congestive splenomegaly, Crohn's disease, eosinophilic gastroenteritis, familial adenomatous polyposis, gastroenteritis, gout, hepatorenal syndrome, intestinal pseudo-obstruction, intussusception, irritable bowel syndrome, ischemic colitis, malignant peritoneal mesothelioma, milk-alkali syndrome, perforated gastric ulcer, peritonitis, polycystic kidney disease, porphyria, scarlet fever, scleroderma, splenic abscess, splenic infarction, subphrenic abscess, traumatic splenic rupture, ulcerative colitis, visceral hamartoma, visceral hemangioma, volvulus, wandering spleen syndrome
Genetic	Colon atresia, cystinuria, Dent's disease, familial adenomatous polyposis, homocystinuria, Meckel syndrome, polycystic kidney disease, porphyria, primary hyperoxaluria, sickle cell anemia, tuberous sclerosis, Von Hippel-Lindau Disease, WAGR syndrome, Williams syndrome
Hematologic	Antiphospholipid syndrome, lymphoma, porphyria, sickle cell anemia
Iatrogenic	Cystometry, dialysis, exercise, intra abdominal adhesions, pelvic surgery, percutaneous renal biopsy, radiation therapy, referred pain, splenic artery embolization, vitamin D toxicity
Infectious Disease	Fungal bezoars, gastroenteritis, HIV, inflammatory pleural effusions, intestinal worm infestation, mediterranean spotted fever, miliary tuberculosis, mycobacterium avium complex, perinephric abscess, peritonitis, pneumonia, post streptococcal glomerulonephritis, pyelonephritis, renal abscess, renal mucormycosis, renal tuberculosis, retroperitoneal abscess, shingles, splenic abscess, urinary tract infection, urosepsis, viral hemorrhagic fevers
Musculoskeletal/Orthopedic	Abdominal muscle spasm, abdominal muscle strain, abdominal muscle tear, disc disease, gout, referred pain from back, spinal arthritis
Neurologic
Nutritional/Metabolic	Carbohydrate-deficient glycoprotein syndrome, cystinuria, homocystinuria, hyperuricaemia, oxalosis
Obstetric/Gynecologic	Eclampsia, ectopic pregnancy, endometriosis, gestational trophoblastic disease, ovarian torsion, pelvic inflammatory disease
Oncologic	Colon cancer, colonic lymphoma, familial adenomatous polyposis, malignant peritoneal mesothelioma, renal angiosarcoma, renal cell carcinoma, tuberous sclerosis, tumor lysis syndrome, visceral hamartoma, visceral hemangioma, Von Hippel-Lindau disease, WAGR syndrome, Wilms' tumor
Ophthalmologic	No underlying causes
Overdose/Toxicity	Cocaine overdose, contrast agents, fentanyl toxicity, steroid abuse, tramadol toxicity
Psychiatric	Intestinal pseudo-obstruction, irritable bowel syndrome
Pulmonary	Empyema, inflammatory pleural effusions, pneumonia, pulmonary embolism, pulmonary infarction, systemic lupus erythematosus, Wegener's granulomatosis
Renal/Electrolyte	Acute kidney injury, Alport syndrome, cystinuria, Dent's disease, Denys-Drash syndrome, Goodpasture syndrome, homocystinuria, loin pain hematuria syndrome, Meckel syndrome, medullary cystic kidney disease, megaureter, membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis, myoglobinuria, nephrocalcinosis, neurogenic bladder, oxalosis, perinephric abscess, polycystic kidney disease, post renal transplantation, post streptococcal glomerulonephritis, posterior urethral valves, pyelonephritis, reflux nephropathy, renal angiosarcoma, renal cell carcinoma, renal mucormycosis, renal papillary necrosis, renal thromboembolism, renal tuberculosis, renal tubular acidosis, ureterocele , retroperitoneal fibrosis, scleroderma, systemic lupus erythematosus, tuberous sclerosis, tubulointerstitial nephritis, Turner syndrome, ureteral strictures, urinary outflow obstruction, urinary tract infection, vesicoureteral reflux, Von Hippel-Lindau disease, WAGR syndrome, Wegener's granulomatosis, Weil syndrome, Williams syndrome, Wilms tumor, xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis
Rheumatology/Immunology/Allergy	Allergic gastroenteropathy, Crohn's disease, Ormond's disease, paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria, post renal transplantation, poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis, Reye's syndrome, rheumatoid vasculitis, scarlet fever, systemic lupus erythematosus, systemic vasculitis, ulcerative colitis, Wegener's granulomatosis
Sexual	Denys-Drash syndrome, Turner syndrome
Trauma	Abdominal muscle strain, abdominal muscle tear, disc prolapse, electrical burns, radiculitis, rib fractures, traumatic splenic rupture
Urologic	No underlying causes
Miscellaneous	Chronic constipation, idiopathic, splenosis

Causes of left flank pain developed by WikiDoc.org

Causes in Alphabetical Order

• Abdominal compartment syndrome
• Acute kidney injury
• Acute pancreatitis
• Abdominal muscle spasm
• Abdominal muscle strain
• Abdominal muscle tear
• Acute diverticulitis
• Addisonian crisis
• Adrenal hemorrhage
• Allergic gastroenteropathy
• Alport syndrome
• Aluminum toxicity
• Antiphospholipid syndrome
• Arsenic poisoning
• Aspirin
• Autoimmune gastritis
• Cadmium toxicity
• Carbohydrate-deficient glycoprotein syndrome
• Carcinoid
• Chromium poisoning
• Chronic constipation
• Cocaine overdose
• Colchicine toxicity
• Collagenous colitis
• Colon atresia
• Colon cancer
• Colonic lymphoma
• Contrast agents
• Copper poisoning
• Crohn's disease
• Cyclosporin
• Cystinuria
• Cystometry
• Dent's disease
• Denys-Drash syndrome
• Diabetic ketoacidosis
• Dialysis
• Diclofenac
• Disc disease
• Eclampsia
• Ecstasy overdose
• Ectopic pregnancy
• Electrical burns
• Empyema
• Endometriosis
• Eosinophilic gastroenteritis
• Ethylene glycol poisoning
• Exercise
• Familial adenomatous polyposis
• Fentanyl toxicity
• Food poisoning
• Fungal bezoars
• Gastroenteritis
• Gestational trophoblastic disease
• Gold
• Goodpasture syndrome
• Gout
• Heavy metals
• Hemolytic uremic syndrome
• Hepatorenal syndrome
• Homocystinuria
• Hyperparathyroidism
• Hyperuricaemia
• Ibuprofen

• Idiopathic
• Indomethacin
• Infective endocarditis
• Inflammatory pleural effusion
• Intestinal pseudo-obstruction
• Intestinal worm infestation
• Intra abdominal adhesions
• Intussusception
• Iron poisoning
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Ischemic colitis
• Lead poisoning
• Loin pain hematuria syndrome
• Lymphoma
• Malignant hypertension
• Malignant hyperthermia
• Malignant peritoneal mesothelioma
• Meckel syndrome
• Mediterranean spotted fever
• Medullary cystic kidney disease
• Membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis
• Ménétrier's disease
• Mercaptopurine
• Mercury poisoning
• Mesenteric artery ischemia
• Methanol
• Methotrexate
• Metronidazole
• Miliary tuberculosis
• Milk-alkali syndrome
• Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1
• Mycobacterium avium complex
• Myoglobinuria
• Naproxen
• Nephrocalcinosis
• Neurogenic bladder
• Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
• Organophosphate poisoning
• Ormond's disease
• Ovarian torsion
• Oxalosis
• Paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria
• Pelvic inflammatory disease
• Percutaneous renal biopsy
• Perforated gastric ulcer
• Perinephric abscess
• Peritonitis
• Pernicious anemia
• Pneumonia
• Polycystic kidney disease
• Polycythemia vera
• Porphyria
• Post renal transplantation
• Post streptococcal glomerulonephritis
• Primary hyperoxaluria
• Pulmonary embolism
• Pulmonary infarction
• Pyelonephritis
• Radiation therapy
• Referred pain
• Reflux nephropathy
• Renal abscess
• Renal angiosarcoma

• Renal artery dissection
• Renal artery embolism
• Renal cell carcinoma
• Renal infarction
• Renal mucormycosis
• Renal papillary necrosis
• Renal tuberculosis
• Renal tubular acidosis
• Renal tubular acidosis
• Renal vein thrombosis
• Retroperitoneal abscess
• Retroperitoneal fibrosis
• Reye's syndrome
• Rheumatoid vasculitis
• Rib fractures
• Salicylates
• Scarlet fever
• Scleroderma
• Shingles
• Sickle Cell Anemia
• Silver poisoning
• Spinal arthritis
• Splenic abscess
• Splenic artery embolization
• Splenic infarction
• Splenic lymphoma
• Splenomegaly
• Splenosis
• Statin
• Steroid abuse
• Subphrenic abscess
• Systemic lupus erythematosus
• Systemic vasculitis
• Tetracycline
• Thrombolytic therapy
• Tietze's syndrome
• Toxic mushrooms
• Tramadol toxicity
• Traumatic splenic rupture
• Tuberous sclerosis
• Tubulointerstitial nephritis
• Tumor lysis syndrome
• Turner Syndrome
• Ulcerative colitis
• Ureteral strictures
• Ureterocele
• Urinary outflow obstruction
• Urinary tract infection
• Urosepsis
• Viral hemorrhagic fevers
• Visceral hamartoma
• Visceral hemangioma
• Vitamin D toxicity
• Volvulus
• Von Hippel-Lindau Disease
• WAGR Syndrome
• Wandering spleen syndrome
• Warfarin
• Wegener's granulomatosis
• Weil syndrome
• Williams Syndrome
• Wilms tumor
• Xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis

Causes of left flank pain developed by WikiDoc.org

References

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