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Pain in right side
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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One of the most frequent and important diagnostic complaints in case of diseases of the digestive system is pain in the right side. Its correct interpretation is sometimes very difficult, and sometimes mistakes in their assessment can lead to very serious consequences.
This is due to the fact that pain in the side is found not only in various diseases of the digestive system, but also in diseases of other organs of the abdominal cavity and retroperitoneal space (spleen, kidney, ureter, bladder, appendages of the uterus, etc.), diseases of the respiratory organs and blood circulation (acute pneumonia, pleurisy, myocardial infarction), abdominal wall diseases (eg, hernia ), diseases of the peripheral nervous system ( spinal osteochondrosis, neurosyphilis), blood diseases ( porphyria, hemorrhagic smoothes), collagenoses ( periarteritis nodosa ), endocrine diseases ( diabetes mellitus ), heavy metal poisoning, etc. From this it becomes clear that only a thorough analysis of the pain syndrome with the identification of one or other of its features will allow us to avoid an erroneous diagnostic conclusion.
Causes of pain in the right side
Pain in his right side is most often associated with the pathology of the biliary tract ( stones, dyskinesia, inflammation - cholangitis, holangioholetsistit, cholecystitis) or liver (hepatitis, cirrhosis of the, liver abscesses or subdiaphragmatic abscesses of, metastatic liver disease, congestive hepatomegaly ), at least - the colon, right kidney, appendix, pancreas.
In addition to typical attacks of liver or biliary colic, in diseases of the biliary tract there may be mild inaccessible pain not only in the right side, but also in the epigastric region, often radiating to the back and under the scapula, as well as dyspeptic symptoms . These pains, unlike a peptic ulcer, are usually provoked not just by eating, but by taking a certain type of food (fatty, gas-forming).
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Diseases that accompany pain in the right side
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Ectopic pregnancy
A very common cause of pain in the right lower abdomen (right side) is an ectopic pregnancy .
This is a pathology in which the fertilized egg is not in the uterus, as in normal pregnancy, but outside of it. For example, in the fallopian tube, as happens in almost 100% of cases in uterine pregnancy. When the fertilized egg grows, the tube becomes too small for it, and the walls of the tube break.
How to recognize ectopic pregnancy?
This is manifested first by dull and aching pains in the right side (during the period when the embryo grows), and then, if the ectopic pregnancy is not diagnosed in time, the pain becomes sharp, very strong, until the cry.
They can be given to the rectum. This means that the right fallopian tube ruptured and then the woman's life is counted in minutes and hours. Need urgent medical care and surgery. By analogy, when ectopic pregnancy appears pain in the left side .
More signs of ectopic pregnancy
Additional symptoms by which ectopic pregnancy can be determined are menstrual delay. After pregnancy is diagnosed - bleeding, scanty, and sometimes moderate concentrations, nausea, weakness. Pain, be careful, can be very sharp, sudden.
If you do not help a woman in time, she can die from the "acute abdomen" and severe blood loss, as doctors describe this condition.
Inflammation of the right uterine tube
This is also a condition in which the pain is given to the right side from above or below. The pain in this condition is long, pulling, does not pass for a long time. This is evidence of inflammation of the right fallopian tube, with it being diagnosed with adnexitis .
If the pain is sudden, dagger, then it is acute adnexitis, that is, inflammation and alteration of the fallopian tube tissues are already chronic, the process lasts a long time. This condition is longer and more difficult to treat. The pain can be given in the groin, in the thigh (inner side), in the lower abdomen, in the back down, in the perineum.
Additional symptoms by which adnexitis can be distinguished are purulent discharge from the vagina or discharge in the form of mucus, and the temperature can still rise to 38-39 degrees. With suppurations, pain in the right side can be jerking, not long passing, it is especially aggravated at night. A weakness rolls on a woman, maybe vomiting, nausea, headache, irritability.
Pain associated with ovarian disease
Pain in the right side, which is associated with diseases of the ovaries, occurs almost instantly. The right side hurts, the pain is localized below. This is the area of the uterus. There the leg of the ovary may be twisted or the ovarian cyst may burst . Also the cause of sudden sudden pain can be a cyst or torsion of the fallopian tube.
All these phenomena are very painful and, if the woman does not provide medical assistance in time, she may die. Be sure to need the intervention of a surgeon.
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Where does the pain come from?
The cause of a sudden sudden pain in the right side below, pain extending into the groin and anus, may be an ovarian rupture . This condition may occur during menstruation, about mid-cycle. A woman can die from blood loss if she doesn’t call an ambulance in time and put the victim on the operating table.
In addition to severe pain in the right side, the woman has a high temperature, there may be discharge from the vagina. It is necessary to act in such cases immediately: put cold on the stomach and call a doctor. In no case can not apply hot compresses or heating pad - it will aggravate and increase internal bleeding.
Acute abdomen, or what to do with appendicitis?
Symptoms in which a woman has a lower abdominal pain, so that she can barely tolerate, also indicate appendicitis in acute form. This condition is called an acute abdomen, that is, an emergency condition that requires immediate medical attention.
The pain may not be so sharp at first, but within a few hours or even minutes they can increase significantly. This means that the appendix is inflamed and stretched, the muscle tissue of the ligaments is inflamed.
At first, a woman may not understand where exactly she has a pain - pain can change localization. Then the handwriting of the pain can become clearer. Finally, you can determine exactly what hurts in the right side from above. Time passes, and the pain can fall below, giving to the groin and the rectum.
Additional symptoms in acute appendicitis - not only the right side of the abdomen is tense, but the entire abdominal area, the temperature can rise to 39 degrees and higher, a person may begin vomiting and sweating. In this condition, you must immediately call a doctor.
Acute cholecystitis and cholelithiasis
Most often, pain in the right side with cholecystitis takes a man in his paws at night, even during sleep. Without getting into the intestine, bile occupies the biliary tract, and from this accumulates in them, stretching the shell of the biliary tract. Bile itself is such a substance that bakes when it hits a mucous membrane - it has a salt composition. From this the pain intensifies.
It can hurt not only under the right hypochondrium, but also under the scapula, and at the top of the abdomen, the pain may radiate to the shoulder, as well as the neck. It is very difficult to get rid of it, unless you give a person help immediately. In addition to pain, a person is worried about vomiting, severe nausea, weakness, anxiety.
When the pain in the right side subsides
As the stone passes its way through the bile duct and stops, the bile stabilizes its flow, its level returns to normal, there is no more accumulation of bile, so the pain also gradually subsides. She can stop tormenting a person and immediately, unexpectedly, as soon as the stone stops moving along the channel.
Under the ribs no longer hurts, only a feeling of heaviness remains, which also gradually disappears. But do not be deceived: the disease of the gall has not gone away, and the person still needs medical help.
Other symptoms
If in acute cholecystitis there is also an inflammatory process of the gallbladder and its ducts, then fever, high fever up to 39 degrees, and severe fatigue also join the pain under the right hypochondrium. This means that the toxins along with the bile hit the abdominal area and caused poisoning.
If the pain under the ribs is not sharp or acute, it may be due to the fact that the capsule of the liver was stretched, and the organ increased significantly in volume, and besides, it also became inflamed. With these symptoms, hepatitis is diagnosed .
Additional symptoms of hepatitis are that the skin and the whites of the eyes turn yellow (which is why people call this disease jaundice ). This means that the liver cells are damaged, and bile has entered the blood and the products of its exchange. From this, the skin and mucous membranes of the eyes change their color.
Shingles
This disease is accompanied by inflammation in the spinal ganglia, the nerves that are in the intercostal space, also inflamed. Herpes zoster due to the effect of the herpes virus on all internal organs and tissues.
Localization of lesions - the skin reacts to the herpes virus in those places where the nerve fibers are located, small air bubbles appear on them, and outwardly it appears as red pimples.
The symptoms of this disease, except for pain in the right hypochondrium, are rashes on the skin (small red acne), severe weakness, sweating, irritability and body temperature from about 37 to 38 degrees.
Renal colic
It worries patients after they overdo it with liquid - they drank a lot of water, or compotes, or soda, or juices, and the kidneys did not cope with the load. Renal colic can occur suddenly after working overloads, when the body has received greater physical exertion.
Renal colic is insidious and can occur even when a person is just resting - toxins and inflammation of the internal organs can be caused by the effects of tuberculosis.
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Diseases of the ureter
The ureter can ache and cause pain in the right side due to the fact that fluid accumulates in the urinary tract, which leads to swelling and pain. There are many nerve endings in the kidneys, and therefore the edema of the kidney capsule can also cause pain in the right side (as, indeed, in the left side also).
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Urolithiasis disease
Kidney pain can be so severe that a person cannot even find a comfortable posture in order to relieve pain. When the stone moves through the ureter, it also causes unbearable pain. They give to the lower abdomen, in the groin.
When the stone comes out and occupies a permanent position, the pain subsides as sharply as it began. It can change the character from sharp, sharp and cutting to dull, aching, but long lasting.
The right side of the back hurts in a downward direction, in the direction in which the stone was walking, irritating and scratching the walls of the ureter. Along with pain, a person often feels nauseous, dizzy, vomits, he often runs to the toilet, the body temperature is increased to 39 degrees and higher.
Kidney disease
When a person has pain in the kidneys on the right as a result of pyelonephritis or glomerulonephritis, the pain arises as a killer - unexpectedly, but its nature is intermittent. The pain continues to grow, intensify, it becomes increasingly unbearable. If the nature of the disease is acute, then the pain is acute, and if it is a slow inflammatory process, then the pain is dull, nagging, not passing for a long time.
Additional symptoms - fever from 37 to 39 degrees, severe swelling in the lumbar region and legs, urine becomes bright red (evidence of inflammation) or turbid (evidence of protein in the urine and poor kidney function), urinary output is disturbed.
Flakes and impurities in the urine can be visible to the naked eye, even without testing in the laboratory. Urine - a product of treatment with the kidneys - can change color due to purulent discharges, blood cells - red blood cells, which remain in it at the diagnosis of glomerulonephritis.
If you find yourself having similar symptoms - urine discoloration, general malaise, the urge to vomit, or even pain in the right side without any other symptoms - contact your doctor for examination, because such diseases are not treated on their own.
The mechanism of pain in the right side
If the diseased organ is located on the right, then the pain most often occurs on the right, for example, the right kidney can give pain in the right side (area of the back or abdomen).
But there can be such a situation when pain arises on the right side, but its source is an organ located on the left or in the middle. For example, with appendicitis, when the appendix is located on the right lower abdomen, but the pain gives up or in the middle of the abdomen. Because appendicitis can be confused with renal pain, with kidney disease may be similar symptoms.
In order for surgical intervention in case of severe pains not to be in vain (appendicitis was excised, and kidneys were sore), an accurate comprehensive diagnosis is needed. Otherwise, the localization of pain can deceive the patient, and, most offensively, the doctor.
The mechanism of pain in the abdomen secrete visceral, peritoneal and reflected pain.
Visceral pains in the right side appear in violation of motility. stomach , intestines, gall bladder (spasm or stretching of smooth muscle fibers). These pains are either cramping (for example, with hepatic colic, intestinal colic), or, conversely, dull, aching (meteorism, hypomotor dyskinesia of the gallbladder) and are often accompanied by irradiation to different parts of the body.
Peritoneal (somatic) pain in the right side occurs when the parietal peritoneum is irritated, for example, with perforated gastric ulcer, acute appendicitis. Such pains are usually clearly localized, permanent; are acute, cutting in nature, intensified during movement and breathing, accompanied by tension of the muscles of the anterior abdominal wall.
Reflected pains in the right side are a kind of irradiation of pain, which can be observed, in particular, in case of right-sided lower lobe pneumonia, pleurisy, and some other diseases.
The correct detailing of pain in the right side suggests, first of all, the clarification of such an important symptom of pain, as the localization of pain. In turn, it is possible to locate the patient's painful sensations only if one is well aware of the topographic areas of the abdomen.
With the help of two horizontal lines, one of which connects the lowermost points of X ribs, and the other - the upper anterior spines of the iliac bones, the anterior abdominal wall is divided into three areas or “floors”; upper, middle (mesogaster) and lower (hypogastrium). Two vertical lines drawn along the outer (lateral) edges of the rectus abdominis muscles (these lines are essentially a continuation of the midclavicular lines) divide each area into three more. In total, this results in 9 topographic areas of the abdomen.
In this case, the upper “floor” will consist of the epigastric (epigastric) region (regio epigastrica), as well as the right and left subcostal regions (regio hypochondriaca dextra et sinistra). In the mesogastrium there will be the umbilical region (regio umbilicalis), the right and left side sections of the abdomen or flanks (regio abdominalis lateralis dextra et sinistra). Finally, the hypogastrium will consist of the pubic region (regio pubica), the right and left inguinal regions (regio inguinalis dextra et sinistra). The latter areas are also sometimes called iliac-inguinal or iliac.
What organs can cause pain in the right side?
Localization of pain in the right side
Since most of the vital organs are located just inside the abdominal cavity, the pain can be given to the right, and to the left, and in the middle of the abdomen, and in the back, and in the side. Localization of pain depends in most cases on where the organ is located.
Pain in the side - one of the most acute, which can occur from all types of pain, except, perhaps, the pain inside the abdomen.
This is easily explained: there are nerve endings, blood vessels, organs of the urinary system, and genitals in the abdominal cavity. They are easily excitable and sharply react to stimuli, so the pain can increase depending on how acute the inflammatory process is.
Lower abdominal pain right
Finding out the exact localization of pain in many cases helps immediately suggest the involvement of a particular organ in the pathological process.
Almost always the localization of pain coincides with the location of the problem structure, hence pain in the right side is most often associated with the pathology of the organs surrounding in a given area. But sometimes the pain can “deceive” and arise far from the place of the “tragedy”, and then the pain gives way to the most unexpected points of the body. Pain in the right side at the top can cause acute appendicitis, although the appendix is far away from this area - right lower abdomen. By the nature of the pain in the right side can be strong, sharp, sudden, pulling, dull, long, can increase with time or calm down. Cramping pain is often associated with a sharp contraction of the muscles of hollow organs, persistent pain with stretching of the outer lining of parenchymal organs, and increasing pain is most typical of inflammatory processes. Acute dagger pain occurs, in most cases, with the rupture of some kind of education, organ perforation, intraperitoneal bleeding, or the blockage of blood vessels.
Most often, these pains provoke the organs of the female reproductive system (ovaries, uterus, appendages) or appendicitis.
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Pain in the side, in the right hypochondrium
Pain of this nature - the consequences of diseases of internal organs: duodenum, gallbladder and bile ducts, liver, large intestine (right side). That is, the internal organs that are located on the right (or their area, which is located on the right side).
What leads to pains under the right edge, which people still call pains in the right side? Doctors determine biliary dyskinesia as one of the most common causes of these pains. Gallstones may contain stones - hard formations that scratch the walls of the gallbladder and can cause severe pain. Especially if these stones do not stand still, but move.
The reason for the sharp pain under the right edge can be calculous cholecystitis. In the acute course of the disease, the pain can be very strong, it is difficult for a person to endure it. In this case, the movements are constrained, changing poses does not help, and the pain is very sharp. Doctors call this condition hepatic colic. Hepatic - because several vital organs associated with the work of the liver are involved in the process.
Back pains on the right
To the right of the abdomen can hurt, if the vital organs that are there are inflamed. These can be the kidneys and the right side of the bladder. Back pains on the right can be manifested by diseases such as:
- pyelonephritis;
- glomerulonephritis;
- renal thrombosis;
- kidney tuberculosis;
- hydronephrosis ;
- kidney prolapse ;
- urolithiasis .
In these diseases, very sharp back pain may occur from the right side, and these pains are manifested in the form of contractions, twitching. The causes of such pain are stones in the ureter, because of which it is blocked, and its walls stretch and tighten, and then become inflamed and sore.
As for kidney diseases, they can be affected by toxins, decay products, dead tissues resulting from tuberculosis, and ordinary blood clots (dried blood) can get into the kidneys and ureter.
With severe back pain in the side, doctors can diagnose the condition of renal colic, and they will be right - all of the above reasons can cause stabbing and cutting pain in the kidneys.
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The nature of the pain in the right side
Pain in the right side may be different in nature. And strong, and sharp, and sharp, and aching, and pulling. By the nature of the attack - pain in the right side are sudden, and there are, on the contrary, gradual and intensifying.
Pain in the right side can be in the form of contractions. They arise from the fact that the hollow organs can be sharply and sharply reduced. Pain can be increasing, not very sharp, aching.
They can be caused not by sharp contractions of muscular tissue, as in the first case, but by inflammatory processes, very often acute and even chronic. There is another character of pain, the most unpleasant, very sharp, very strong, in which a person may faint or scream.
Such pains are characteristic of the rupture of organs, tissues, for example, at a rupture of the spleen. Either the cause may be bleeding inside the abdominal cavity or a hole in the stomach (ulcer, perforation ). Vascular occlusions can also cause severe, almost knife-like pain in the right side.
Who to contact?
What to do if you have pain in the right side?
Pain is a danger signal that can never be ignored. According to the ancients, pain is a disease watchdog that warns of health problems. Therefore, for pain of any nature and location immediately should seek help from a doctor and undergo a thorough diagnosis.
If you have pain in the right side, this is not a temporary phenomenon. This means that the organs that are inside are not all right. It is necessary to urgently take measures to treat diseases of these organs.