Abdominal pain

Every one of us, at some point in life, has experienced what is medically termed abdominal pain, more commonly referred to as a stomach ache or bellyache. The pain may be mild or severe, constant or intermittent, meaning it comes and goes. It can also be short-lived, or acute, lasting anywhere from several hours to a couple of days, or it may persist for weeks and even months, in which case it is described as chronic. Causes vary widely, ranging from straightforward conditions such as indigestion all the way through to illnesses that are life-threatening.

Symptoms

Symptoms calling for urgent surgical intervention include severe, agonising pain that worsens with movement, which points to peritonitis, along with bleeding from the anal region, fever accompanied by marked tenderness when the abdomen is palpated, as well as abdominal distension, persistent nausea and vomiting, yellowing of the skin, and/or unexplained weight loss.

Diagnosis

During your visit to the clinic, we will take a detailed history of your symptoms and carry out a clinical examination of the abdominal area. It may be necessary to assess the rectum and anal region using a proctoscope and/or a rigid sigmoidoscope. Depending on what these findings show, further laboratory investigation may be warranted, such as blood and urine tests, a pregnancy test, imaging studies, and/or endoscopic assessment (colonoscopy, flexible sigmoidoscopy, oesophagogastroscopy), all of which serve to confirm the initial diagnosis while ruling out other conditions. Every investigation we may propose will be explained to you in full, together with the reasoning behind choosing it.

Treatment options

Once the clinical and laboratory workup has been completed, we will discuss the most suitable therapeutic approach with you, taking into account both your test results and the final diagnosis.