This title means Acute abdomen. The stomach is a part of food pipe that churns and mixes food and juices like bile produced in liver & acids to make food soft which stays in the stomach for 4 hours only. Role of the stomach is like working of a slow mixer.

Acute abdominal pain can be due to:

1) Indigestion (most common)

2) Overfeeding or underfeeding

3) Burning appendix

4) Worms and other infections in the food pipe

5) In women due to various reasons, related to periods

6) In men due to enlarged prostate

7) Urine infections

8) stones in urinary tract starting from kidneys-bladder-pipes called ureters

9) gall bladder stones

10) Tubal pregnancy

Reasons are plenty, so are the remedies.

Remedies:

  • Our natural instinct is to try home remedies first, ajwain, jeera, warm water, etc.
  • Restrict Solid intake of food, Only oral sips of fluids like ORS/ lemon water/water/some glucose water until a diagnosis is made. It can be an inflamed appendix which needs rest and medicines. Oral fluids are taken up by mucosal lining of the tongue and upper gastric tract without putting a burden on the stomach.
  • Get an Ultrasound abdomen done ASAP to rule out stones in kidneys and gallbladder.
  • A dose of an anti-vomiting medicine like perinorm ( metoclopramide) as a spoon of syrup can be given. It works like opening the outlet of the valve at stomach end, for the open tap to make collected food in stomach move further.
  • Think twice about operating on girls for- Suspected Appendix.
  • Observe the symptoms, antibiotics too can cure inflamed appendix.

Why no surgery, especially on young girls?

  • Every surgery leaves scars for life.
  • Young girls too will have scars within abdomen if operated in a hurry.
  • These scars can play havoc with fallopian tubes at a young age making her tubes blocked without her suffering from a Tubal pregnancy.
  • And she becomes infertile due to blocked tubes which have been fiddled with but she never got a chance to get pregnant.

Be careful before taking a decision to operate or to observe in a good hospital, where every facility is available to diagnose, to observe and to operate if need be.