What Causes Central Abdominal Pain?

Central abdominal pain can have various causes, ranging in severity from 'needs attention' to 'life-threatening'. Finding the true cause means ruling out or confirming each possibility – in other words, diagnosis.

Diagnose your symptoms now!

let The Analyst™ find what's wrong
check your overall health status
learn what you should be doing right now

Diagnosis is usually a complex process due to the sheer number of possible causes and related symptoms. In order to diagnose central abdominal pain, we could:

Research the topic
Find a doctor with the time
Use a diagnostic computer system.

The process is the same, whichever method is used.

Step 1: List all Possible Causes

We begin by identifying the disease conditions which have "central abdominal pain" as a symptom. Here are three possibilities:

Pancreatitis
Possible Urgent Medical Need
Gallbladder Disease

Step 2: Build a Symptom Checklist

We then identify all possible symptoms and risk factors of each possible cause, and check the ones that apply:

slight abdominal distension

very great recent weight loss

current birth control pill use

possibly jaundiced skin

moderate chest pain

attempting suicide

recent onset abdominal pain

pain in one eye

mild epigastric discomfort

meals worsen top-right abdomen pain

severe flatulence

frequent rotten egg burps

... and more than 50 others

Step 3: Rule Out or Confirm each Possible Cause

A differential diagnosis of your symptoms and risk factors finds the likely cause of central abdominal pain:

Cause	Probability	Status
Pancreatitis	99%	Confirm
Possible Urgent Medical Need	17%	Unlikely
Gallbladder Disease	3%	Ruled out

* This is a simple example to illustrate the process

Arriving at a Correct Diagnosis

The Analyst™ is our online diagnosis tool that learns all about you through a straightforward process of multi-level questioning, providing diagnosis at the end.

If you indicate abdominal pain unaffected by eating, abdominal pain reduced by eating or abdominal pain increased by eating, The Analyst™ will ask further questions including this one:

MIDDLE-CENTER abdomen: Do you experience discomfort or pain in the area of your navel (belly button)?

Possible responses:

→ No / only after meals / don't know
→ Occasional mild discomfort
→ Frequent mild and/or occasional moderate pain
→ Frequent moderate and/or occasional severe pain
→ Frequent or constant severe pain

Based on your response to this question, which may indicate mild periumbilical discomfort, moderate periumbilical pain, significant periumbilical pain or severe periumbilical pain, The Analyst™ will consider possibilities such as:

A Potentially Urgent Medical Need

Gallbladder Disease

Pancreatitis

Concerned or curious about your health? Try The Analyst™