Left upper quadrant abdominal pain

Background

  • This page outlines the general approach to adult LUQ pain

Classification by Abdominal pain location

Side-by-side comparison of quadrants and regions.
Chart of commonly reported referred pain sites.
RUQ pain Epigastric pain LUQ pain
Flank pain Diffuse abdominal pain Flank pain
RLQ pain Pelvic pain LLQ pain

Clinical Features

Differential Diagnosis

Left upper quadrant abdominal pain

Workup

  • CBC
  • Chem
  • LFTs
  • Lipase
  • Coags
  • Urinalysis
  • Urine pregnancy (females)
  • ?ECG (if >50 or at risk for cardiac disease)
  • ?RUQ US
  • ?CXR
    • Consider if at risk for perforated ulcer

Management

  • Treat underlying disease process
  • Consider GI cocktail (Maalox Plus/Lidocaine Viscous 2%/Donnatol)

Disposition

  • Disposition per underlying disease process

See Also

External Links

References