Title
Think Broadly to Diagnose the Cause of Chronic Abdominal Pain
Document Type
Letter to the Editor
Publication Date
12-3-2014
Abstract
"With any type of chronic abdominal pain, think broadly.
In the reader’s question, 'Pain in a person with hepatitis C and a fatty pancreas' (Advisor Forum item 192-3, October 2014; available here, accessed on November 15, 2014), the expert’s answer was given as possibly caused by pancreatitis or cirrhosis.
However, being that the patient’s liver function tests and lipase levels were normal, this is highly unlikely. Neither fatty liver, fatty pancreas, nor cirrhosis in and of themselves cause abdominal pain regardless of etiology, and pancreatitis is by definition inflammatory — evidenced by elevated lipase."
Recommended Citation
Walsh, A. Think broadly to diagnose the cause of chronic abdominal pain. Clin Advisor. Dec 2014. https://www.clinicaladvisor.com/home/clinical-pearls/think-broadly-to-diagnose-the-cause-of-chronic-abdominal-pain/
Copyright
Haymarket Media, Inc.
Comments
This article was originally published in Clinical Advisor in December 2014.