Recurring Abdominal Pain

You have not provided very much information that can help to narrow the list of possible causes for your abdominal pain. It will be helpful for your doctor to know that your pain is primarily in the lower part of your abdomen.

Some causes that might be considered to explain your lower abdominal pain include:

• abdominal adhesions

• abdominal angina and bowel infarction (a form of atherosclerosis)

• acute pancreatitis

• celiac disease (celiac sprue)

• chronic pancreatitis

• colon cancer

• constipation

• Crohn's disease

• diverticulosis

• emotional stress

• endometriosis (if you are a woman)

• gas

• hernia

• irritable bowel syndrome

• lead poisoning

• ovarian cyst

• ovarian cancer

• ulcerative colitis

• vertebral fracture.

Because the list of possible causes is large, your evaluation will begin with the basics: a physical examination and possibly some blood or urine tests. It may be helpful to have a test that can view the lining of the large intestine, such as a camera-guided inspection of the colon (a colonoscopy or flexible sigmoidoscopy examination). A computed tomography scan (CT scan) may also be considered. The specific test that is selected will be dependent upon additional details that you provide to your doctor and your past history of medical problems.