What Causes Lower Right Abdominal Pain?

Lower right abdominal pain can have various causes, ranging in severity from 'needs attention' to 'generally fatal'. Finding the true cause means ruling out or confirming each possibility – in other words, diagnosis.

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Diagnosis is usually a complex process due to the sheer number of possible causes and related symptoms. In order to diagnose lower right 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 "lower right abdominal pain" as a symptom. Here are eight of many possibilities (more below):

Crohn's Disease
Diverticular Disease
Pyelonephritis
Ectopic Pregnancy
Ulcerative Colitis
Possible Urgent Medical Need
Appendicitis
Ovarian Cysts

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:

active Crohn's disease

significant epigastric pain

somewhat elevated basophil count

frequent unexplained vomiting

major mid-abdomen pain after food

frequent painful urge to defecate

frequent meal-related bloating

trace amounts of occult blood

dairy product consumption

mild left lumbar discomfort

severe hypogastric pain

significant abdominal pain

... and more than 80 others

Step 3: Rule Out or Confirm each Possible Cause

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

Cause	Probability	Status
Pyelonephritis	99%	Confirm
Ectopic Pregnancy	16%	Unlikely
Ulcerative Colitis	13%	Unlikely
Crohn's Disease	1%	Ruled out
Appendicitis	0%	Ruled out
Possible Urgent Medical Need	0%	Ruled out
Ovarian Cysts	0%	Ruled out
Diverticular Disease	0%	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:

LOWER-RIGHT abdomen: Do you experience discomfort or pain above your right hip?

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 right iliac discomfort, moderate right iliac pain, significant right iliac pain or severe right iliac pain, The Analyst™ will consider possibilities such as:

A Potentially Urgent Medical Need

Appendicitis

Crohn's Disease

Diverticular Disease

Ectopic Pregnancy

Intestinal Obstruction

Mesenteric Ischemia

Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian Cysts

The most common symptom of ovarian cyst is pain in the lower right or left side of the pelvis, right where the ovaries are. The side will depend on which ovary contains the cyst. Specific pain in the right iliac can be a caused by ovarian torsion, which usually occurs when the ovary is enlarged by a cyst.

Pyelonephritis

Ulcerative Colitis

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