the patient felt the pain first and if it extended
to other areas. Abdominal pain spreading
from the right iliac fossa to the umbilical area
might indicate appendicitis (Keshav 2004).
Pain radiating to the back might be related to
pancreatic disease, a peptic ulcer or abdominal
aortic aneurysm (Talley and O’Connor 2010).
It is vital to recognise the different types and
characteristics of abdominal pain, such as dull,
sharp, burning, colicky or stabbing sensations.
Sensation of burning might be associated with a
peptic ulcer. Often, pain that is colicky in nature
is related to an obstruction of the bowel, bile duct
or ureters (Talley and O’Connor 2010). Pain that
involves sharp or tearing sensations may be linked
to appendicitis, ruptured ectopic pregnancy or
dissecting aneurysm (Cole et al 2006).
The clinician should document whether the
pain became worse since onset or is relieved at
times. Pain may be relieved if the patient changes
position, for example, and vomiting and passing
wind or stool should be noted (Miller and Alpert
2006). Pain that worsens during eating or vomiting
may indicate the presence of a peptic ulcer (Apau
2010). It is important to record severity of pain
and its duration, from onset to presentation. This
could help to identify whether the pain was or is
acute or chronic. Useful information that could
aid diagnosis may include associated symptoms
such as weight change, bowel habit, and nausea
and vomiting. To establish an accurate diagnosis,
the time, content and amount of vomit should be
noted. Burkitt and Quick (2002) suggested that
weight loss and anorexia are often related
to malignant abdominal conditions such as
gastric cancer, liver cancer and colorectal cancer.
An overview of the different diagnoses of
abdominal pain is outlined in Table 1.
The clinician should report any change in
bowel habit, in terms of consistency of stool and
frequency of bowel movement. The presence of
diarrhoea with abdominal pain may indicate
infection or inflammatory bowel disease (Epstein
2009). It is also important to note the presence of
either fresh (bright red) or altered (dark brown or
black) blood in the stool. Fresh blood in stool may
be caused by inflammation of the lower intestine
or haemorrhoids. Similarly, altered blood might
indicate higher intestinal bleeding (Cole et al
2006). Constipation of recent onset, associated
with colic, could be indicative of bowel obstruction
(Bickley and Szilaygi 2010). Froggatt and