Chronic Abdominal Pain

Chronic abdominal pain without diagnosis

Do you suffer from chronic abdominal pain, have seen multiple specialists, have undergone extensive works ups including blood work, imaging, endoscopies, biopsies and still do not have an answer?

You are not alone; many patients live with pain and accept that there is no cure.

Chronic abdominal pain is a very common condition that can have significant negative, long-term psychosocial consequences, including increased risk for anxiety, school and work absences, poor functional capacity, and a poor quality of life.

Dr. Paracha has treated many patients throughout the years with chronic pain and with careful review of results often overlooked causes are the problem. He has treated and changed the lives of patients with rare and not so rare conditions including:

Acalculous cholecystitis: gallbladder disease not caused by gallstones. Fairly common condition, sometimes with a familial pattern. Patients typically have been to the emergency room multiple times, had "normal ultrasound" and sent home with pain!

Gastrinoma (a pancreatic tumor) which presented as an elderly female with chronic, debilitating diarrhea.

Median Arcuate Ligament Syndrome: caused by compression of the celiac artery and/or the celiac plexus nerves by the diaphragm resulting in pain that is worsened with eating or sometimes with exercise. Other symptoms include nausea and weight loss. In some patients the symptoms can be devastating and can lead to erroneous diagnoses of an eating disorder, psychiatric conditions, or functional abdominal pain (e.g. irritable bowel syndrome, abdominal migraine). The diagnosis is made based on a combination of the clinical symptoms and radiology imaging. There is a surgical procedure that can be performed that is effective in approximately 60-80% of patients.

Superior Mesenteric Artery Syndrome: digestive condition that occurs when the duodenum (the first part of the small intestine) is compressed between two arteries (the aorta and the superior mesenteric artery). This compression causes partial or complete blockage of the duodenum. Symptoms vary based on severity, but can be severely debilitating. Symptoms may include abdominal pain, fullness, nausea, vomiting, and/or weight loss. SMAS typically is due to loss of the mesenteric fat pad (fatty tissue that surrounds the superior mesenteric artery). The most common cause is significant weight loss caused by medical disorders, psychological disorders, or surgery. In younger patients, it most commonly occurs after corrective spinal surgery for scoliosis.