Right upper quadrant abdominal pain

Background

Gallbladder anatomy (overview).

Gallbladder anatomy

• This page outlines the general approach to RUQ pain

Clinical Features

Side-by-side comparison of quadrants and regions.

Chart of commonly reported referred pain sites.

Differential Diagnosis

RUQ Pain

• Gallbladder disease
  • Symptomatic cholelithiasis (biliary colic)
  • Choledocholithiasis
  • Acute cholecystitis
  • Ascending cholangitis
  • Acalculous cholecystitis
• Pancreatitis
• Acute hepatitis
• Pancreatitis
• GERD
• Appendicitis (retrocecal)
• Pyogenic liver abscess
• Bowel obstruction
• Cirrhosis
• Budd-Chiari syndrome
• GU
  • Pyelonephritis
  • Kidney stone
  • Fitz-Hugh-Curtis Syndrome
• Other
  • Hepatomegaly due to CHF
  • Peptic ulcer disease with or without perforation
  • Pneumonia
  • Herpes zoster
  • Myocardial ischemia
  • Pulmonary embolism
  • Abdominal aortic aneurysm

Workup

• CBC
• Chem
• LFTs
• Lipase
• Coags
• Urinalysis
• Urine pregnancy (females)
• Biliary ultrasound
• ?CXR
  • Consider if at risk for perforated ulcer
• ?ECG
  • If may be cardiac in nature

Management

• Treat underlying disease process

Disposition

• Disposition per underlying disease process

See Also

• Abdominal Pain
• Abdominal Pain (Peds)