Welcome back to the channel where medical topics are made easy.
Many of you enjoyed the previous video,
which was on the 4-2-1 rule to help you remember the main causes of chest pain.
So I thought it would be helpful to make another trick, but this time for abdominal pain.
So today I’m going to show you a simple trick that will help
you remember some of the main causes of upper abdominal pain.
If you haven’t had a chance to watch the video on the 4-2-1 rule, make sure to check it out
next because you’ll learn a quick trick that will help you to never miss a chest pain emergency.
I’ll link the video down below.
Just a quick reminder before we get started that you can find
all of the notes and study guides for the videos on our website linked down below.
As you can see here, there are many conditions that can cause upper abdominal pain.
And whether you’re a student, or a provider, or someone wanting to learn more about what
causes abdominal pain, you don’t want to miss those life-threatening or emergent causes.
So I figured there had to be an easy way to take this long list
and turn into something that allows you to easily run through those conditions that are more urgent,
and this is what I came up with.
If you’ve watched the channel before, you know that I like to come up with
tricks and mnemonics that have to do with what it is we’re talking about.
So I was actually able to come up with a way to use the mnemonic “UPPER STOMACH”
to remember the main emergent causes of upper abdominal pain.
Let’s walk through what “UPPER STOMACH” stands for.
You can either write this down and use it or commit it to memory.
The “U” stands for Urinary stones and infections.
This will help you think of things like kidney stones, along with kidney or urinary infections.
Most of the time kidney stones, which are also called nephrolithiasis, and kidney infections,
also called pyelonephritis will cause flank pain that might even radiate to the groin,
but some individuals may describe their pain as upper abdominal.
Urinary tract infections typically present as lower abdominal pain, but some patient’s may
experience generalized abdominal pain especially early on or in the elderly.
The first “P” stands for pancreatitis.
This will help you remember pancreatic causes such as inflammation of the
pancreas called pancreatitis along with other pancreatic causes such as a pancreatic mass.
Typically pancreatitis will present as upper abdominal pain radiating to the back.
The second “P” will help you remember that pulmonary conditions can cause
upper abdominal pain too.
Remember not all abdominal pain is caused by things in the abdomen.
Conditions involving the lower lungs can irritate the diaphragm
and present as upper abdominal pain too.
This may include a pulmonary embolism, which is a blockage in the artery in the lungs.
This can also include pneumonia,
especially when the pneumonia involves one of the lower lung lobes.
A pleural effusion, which is an abnormal collection of fluid in the pleural space
or cavity between the lungs and chest wall, may also cause upper abdominal discomfort.
The “E” stands for ectopic pregnancy.
This is to help you remember pregnancy in general and that pregnancy should be considered
in any female who is of child-bearing age presenting with abdominal pain.
Ectopic pregnancy occurs when the fetus develops outside the uterus.
The “R” stands for really early appendicitis.
This is important because early appendicitis may cause generalized or upper abdominal
pain before migrating to the right lower quadrant.
Remember appendicitis is inflammation of the appendix.
Now let’s walk through the word “STOMACH”.
First we have the “S” which stands for stomach perforation or bleed.
This will help you remember gastric or bowel perforation,
which is a hole that develops in the stomach or intestines.
And this will also help you remember GI bleeds, which could potentially be caused
by stomach or intestinal ulcers which typically cause upper abdominal pain.
The “T” stands for twisting bowel.
This will help you remember volvulus
which is an obstruction caused by twisting of the stomach or intestines.
Twisting of the bowel can also lead to ischemia or reduced blood flow to the intestines,
and this can help you remember ischemic bowel as a potential cause as well.
The “O” stands for obstruction.
This will help you remember bowel obstruction as well as foreign body ingestion.
Next we have the “M” which stands for myocardial infarction or a heart attack.
This is an important one.
Some patient’s may present with upper abdominal pain that is actually a myocardial infarction.
This can be true in patient populations who are elderly,
female, history of diabetes, among others.
You don’t want to miss a myocardial infarction in someone presenting with upper abdominal pain,
so make sure to always consider it and order an EKG and cardiac blood work as appropriate.
The “A” will help you remember conditions involving the aorta such as aortic aneurysm,
aortic dissection, and aortic rupture.
Which are ballooning of the aorta, a tear in the aorta, and a hole in the aorta respectively.
The “C” will help you remember gallbladder and biliary causes
such as cholecystitis, which is inflammation of the gallbladder,
and cholangitis which is inflammation of the bile duct or biliary system.
These are usually caused by obstructed gallstones.
Finally the “H” stands for hepatitis,
which will help you remember hepatic causes of upper abdominal pain.
Remember hepatitis is inflammation of the liver.
Now here’s the cool part.
By using the mnemonic, you may not have realized that it gets you thinking about
a lot of the main organ systems that are pertinent to upper abdominal pain.
We can see in the word “upper” that we’re including the kidneys and urinary system,
the pancreas, the lungs, it also makes you consider pregnancy,
and it also helps you think of the appendix.
And we can see the word “stomach” covers the stomach, intestines,
heart, aorta, gallbladder along with the biliary system, and the liver.
So you can see how this mnemonic is a great way to summarize the main emergent causes of
upper abdominal pain, especially when so many conditions can cause abdominal pain.
So feel free to commit it to memory or write it down.
Just remember this is not a complete list of every single emergency,
and other less urgent causes can potentially become emergent as well.
If you found this trick useful, please share the video with others.
Hopefully this gave you a simple way to remember the main emergent causes of upper abdominal pain.
If you found the trick useful, please share the video with others and hit
that like button and leave a comment down below.
You can find the lecture notes and study guides for the video on our website linked down below.
Make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss out on future videos, notes, and study guides.
Thanks for watching and hope you check out future videos.