What Causes Sharp Chest Pain In A Person With Diverticulosis?

Posted on Wed, 23 Dec 2015

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

Wed, 23 Dec 2015 Answered on

Tue, 12 Jan 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : Lately I have had an attack of severe sharp pains in my middle section . This happened when I was in a sitting position and bent over to reach or pick something up . It takes my breath away the pain is so sharp. If I rub my stomach area or lower left quadrine it goes away after a few minutes. It happens when I bed forward or to the side. I have had about 4 instances in a month. I do have diverticulosis.
My gallbladder has been removed. Any ideas doc?

Answered by Dr. T Chandrakant (4 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Possibilities as mentioned and needs clinical evaluation and investigations

Detailed Answer:
Hi.
Thanks for your query.
To recapitulate: Female/60 - known case of diverticulosis - 4 attacks of sharp pains in a month - gall bladder removed - happened when you were in sitting position and bent over to reach or pick up something - sharp enough that the breath is taken away - goes after a few minutes if you rub stomach area or left lower quadrant - happens on bending forward or to the sides..Wants to know further...

The most probable reasons can be as follows:
- Muscle spam in the area of pain
- Tender xiphisternum, a small projected end of the sternum from where the muscles of the abdomen originate.
- Small epigastric hernia getting obstructed in this particular position and getting release hence the pain goes away and does not get obstructed in routine movements.
- Rare chance of the nerve in the back getting entrapped or stretched in such a particular position.
- Diverticulosis per se can not cause such a pain
- Rubbing the stomach or left lower area can be soothing as a reflex mechanism.

This can be diagnosed by the following ways:
- Clinical examination by a Doctor, preferably a General Surgeon may help to get a clinical diagnosis and gives idea for further investigations which can help to get a final diagnosis and a plan for treatment if needed.

I hope this answers your query, please feel free to ask for further relevant queries if you need to or if you feel that there is a gap of communication.

Note: Revert back with your health reports to get further guidance on your gastric problems. Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar