What Causes Pain In Left Upper Quadrant Area Radiating To Back?

Posted on Sat, 15 Nov 2014

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

Sat, 15 Nov 2014 Answered on

Tue, 9 Dec 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : I have pain in my left UQ that radiates to my back. My back is swollen and has been for many months now. Pain is variable. I do not drink due to my CRPS. I have had this pain now for more than a year. I have seen multiple doctors aand they all have differing opinions and diagnosis. I usually have no pain in the morning, but at the end of the day my left side is quite painful and I find it difficult to bend or lean to my left side. My appitite has diminished. My A1c is 5.9 and I am not diabetic. I do have episodes of nausea, but no vomiting. There is a confirmed history of my father having pancreatic cancer. I have had ny gall blader removed. The pain is mostly in my back, just left of my spine, and wraps around my left side. It is painful to palpation, both just off midline abdomen, and just below my ribs in my back. My kidneys tested clean, as did my spleen. I am at a loss, but whaat do you think? I would like tto add that lately, as in the last week, I have been experiencing headaches at the end of the day into evening/night. This is new, and is different from my migraines which are under tight control with my current medication. I am not hypertensive.

Answered by Dr. M Y Shareef (4 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Some more investigations might be needed.

Detailed Answer:
Hi XXXXXXX ! Good afternoon. I am Dr Shareef answering your query.

After going through all your history, assuming that there was no history of any trauma to your back, I would advise you for a CECT/MRI of the whole abdomen and the back where your swelling is located to know the origin of the swelling and to rule out any focus of chronic inflammation in your pancreas. On the blood tests, I would advise you to go for a serum lipase estimation. If these tests were already done for you, I would like to have the reports from you.

Till the reports are available, I would advise you for an anti inflammatory drug along with a proton pump inhibitor drug.

Thanks for choosing health care magic to clear doubts on your health problems. Dr Shareef.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad