Severe Left Upper Quadrant Pain, Epigastric Attack And Intolerance To Gluten. Are They Related?

Posted on Fri, 11 Jan 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 Answered on

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 Last reviewed on

Question : I have occasionally severe left upper quadrant and epigastric attacks,,I had my GB taken out and an ercp and sphincterotomy,,have discovered an intolerance to gluten,,,te LUQ pain becomes so severe, that its difficult to breathe and it also radiates into neck. yesterday I have had what feels like a knife below my rt shoulder blade radiating around the ribs,,it feels XXXXXXX but unlike prior GB attacks can you give input as to what this could be and is it related?

Answered by Dr. Ganesh Sanap (3 hours later)

Hi welcome and thanks for writing in.

The occasional LUQ pain is probably due to your GERD. It may have caused ulcerations by the stomach which is cause of pain. However radiating pain to right shoulder has a diagnosis of Pancreatitis. It can cause sharp epigastric pain radiating to the right shoulder. It is a first possibility due to lax sphincter of Oddi function and previous gall bladder calculi.

The important thing is that gluten insensitivity will not cause such symptoms . It is associated with diarrhea or weight loss.

If pain is severe and intolerable then you need to consult a board certified surgeon as soon as possible. Few investigations like ultrasonography and blood amylase test may be necessary depending on clinical examination.

Hope I have answered your query. If you have further concern please let me know.

Regards.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Shanthi.E