RT Book, Section
A1 Steiner, Alicja Soczewko
A2 Warfield, Carol A.
A2 Bajwa, Zahid H.
SR Print(0)
ID 3414449
T1 Chapter 34. Abdominal Pain
T2 Principles & Practice of Pain Medicine, 2e
YR 2004
FD 2004
PB The McGraw-Hill Companies
PP New York, NY
SN 9780071443494
LK accessanesthesiology.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=3414449
RD 2024/04/24
AB Abdominal  pain  is  one  of  the  most  common  presenting  complaints  in  the  primary  care  physician’s  office  and  often  a  diagnostic  dilemma  for  surgeons.  Despite  recent  technologic  advances,  the  diagnosis  and  treatment  of  chronic,  recurrent  abdominal  pain  remain  a  challenge.  Pain  is  a  subjective  sensation  that  patients  often  find  difficult  to  describe.  By  contrast  with  other  areas  of  the  body,  the  abdominal  organs  have  poorly  developed  sensory  systems  that  also  may  contribute  to  the  patient’s  difficulty  when  trying  to  describe  and  localize  the  pain.  In  the  majority  of  clinical  scenarios,  no  physical  course  is  apparent  and  symptoms  are  transient.  The  purpose  of  pain  is  to  protect  the  organ  and  the  patient  from  injury.  After  the  source  of  the  pain  is  found,  every  effort  should  be  made  to  control  or  eliminate  it.  In  chronic  pancreatitis  or  diffuse  malignancy,  for  example,  pain  control  may  become  as  much  a  challenge  as  in  instances  where  no  underlying  cause  can  be  found.