What Is Visceral Pain?

Visceral pain is a common clinical symptom, which can be caused by mechanical traction, spasm, ischemia and inflammation. Features are: inaccurate positioning, which is the most important feature of visceral pain. For example, patients with abdominal pain often cannot tell the exact location of the pain that occurs, because the pain receptors are much thinner in the internal organs than in the body, and the visceral sensation is introduced. Approaches are scattered. It occurs slowly and lasts a long time, that is, it is mainly manifested by slow pain, which usually increases gradually, but sometimes it can quickly turn into severe pain. Visceral pain is particularly susceptible to unpleasant emotional activity, accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and changes in cardiovascular and respiratory activity.

Basic Information

Causes of visceral pain and common diseases

Visceral pain is mainly caused by internal organ disorders, including dilation, ischemia, inflammation, and mesenteric stretch.

Acute abdominal pain

Acute abdominal pain is a type of visceral pain. Common causes of abdominal pain are:

(1) Acute peritoneal inflammation is most often caused by perforation of the stomach and intestines. Abdominal pain has the following characteristics: obvious pain localization, generally located at the site of inflammation, and may involve pain; persistent acute pain; abdominal pain is often caused by pressure and changes in position , Coughing or sneezing; aggravated tenderness, rebound pain and muscle tension at the lesion; bowel sounds disappeared.

(2) Acute inflammation of abdominal organs such as acute gastritis, acute enteritis, and acute pancreatitis.

(3) Cavity organ obstruction or dilated abdominal pain is often paroxysmal and colic, which can be very severe, such as intestinal obstruction, biliary ascariasis, urinary stone obstruction, and gallstone colic.

(4) Torsion or rupture of visceral organs (ovary, gallbladder, mesentery, omentum, etc.) in the abdomen can cause strong colic or persistent pain when it is twisted acutely. Acute visceral rupture such as liver rupture, spleen rupture, ectopic pregnancy rupture, sharp pain and symptoms of internal bleeding.

(5) Intra-abdominal vascular obstruction is rare, and abdominal pain is quite severe. It mainly occurs on the basis of heart disease, hypertension and arteriosclerosis, such as superior mesenteric artery embolism, dissection aortic aneurysm, and so on.

2. Tumor visceral pain

It is a common symptom of cancer patients. The tumor invades the cavity organs, parenchymal organs, peritoneal or retroperitoneal soft tissues of the gastrointestinal tract or urogenital tract, and the nervous system that governs these organs or tissues, can cause pain. Tumor compression, traction, swelling of the capsule, obstruction, inflammation, ischemia, and chemicals secreted by the tumor are the main causes of pain. Intraabdominal tumors are roughly divided into cavity organ tumors and solid organ tumors. Common visceral pain syndromes include: liver pain syndrome, pancreatic pain syndrome, chronic intestinal obstruction, and ureteral obstruction.

3. Angina Pectoris

Angina pectoris is a type of visceral pain. The direct cause of angina pectoris is insufficient blood supply to the heart muscle. Myocardial insufficiency is mainly due to coronary heart disease. Sometimes, other types of heart disease or uncontrolled hypertension can cause angina. Visceral pain has the following five clinical features:

(1) Not all internal organs can produce pain due to uneven sensory distribution or lack of appropriate nociceptive stimuli.

(2) Visceral pain is not always related to injury, that is, visceral pain has the characteristics of non-structural and non-functional dependence.

(3) Because the afferent nerves of the viscera and the body converge at the center, visceral pain often involves the body wall.

(4) It may be related to the distribution of afferent nerves. Visceral pain is rarely confined to one site and is diffuse.

(5) Visceral pain is often accompanied by obvious motor and autonomic reflex activities, which is likely to be a stress response of the body to the outside world.

Differential diagnosis of visceral pain

True visceral pain

It is the pain produced when the internal organs are stimulated. It is a dull, sore or burning pain, and it can also be colic. It is caused by the expansion, spasm or strong contraction of the cavity organs, the stimulation of chemicals, and the pulling of the organs. Its characteristics are: visceral pain is located inside the body and occurs slowly but with a long duration; lack of double pain; the positioning is not clear and the edge of the pain area is difficult to determine.

Body cavity wall pain

Also known as visceral pain, it is pain caused by the stimulation of the wall of the body cavity, such as pain caused by inflammation, pressure, friction or surgery of the pleura and peritoneum. This pain is also characterized by pain or hyperalgesia in the skin of the corresponding spinal cord nerve segment.

Visceral Pain Examination

1. Laboratory blood routine, blood biochemical and other related inspections.

2. B-ultrasound, CT and other imaging related examinations.

3. ECG, Ultrasound ECG, Angiography and other examinations.

4. Magnetic resonance examination.

Visceral Pain Treatment Principles

Treatment for the cause. For patients with stubborn cancerous pain, percutaneous anterior spinal columnectomy can be used if necessary. Dorsal access therapy is also available as a new option.