title: What could be causing chronic abdominal pain? Anything from common peptic ulcers to uncommon pancreatic trauma.
abstract: Establishing a reasonable diagnosis and treatment plan in patients with chronic abdominal pain can be difficult and frustrating. Most cases involve a common and readily identified condition (e.g., gallbladder disease, GERD, irritable bowel syndrome). Other cases, however, resist ready diagnosis because they offer no intra-abdominal explanation. In this article, the authors summarize several diverse possibilities as the source of the pain, and they describe how to approach evaluation to avoid unnecessary testing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington 40536-0084, USA.
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: DeBanto
authors.forename: G W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Varilek
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Haas
mesh_terms: D000007:Abdominal Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D010179:Pancreas / Q000293:injuries