What referred pain is the black arrow pointing to?

Master Differential Diagnosis and Medical Screening in Physical Therapy. Engage with flashcards and multiple choice questions, all with detailed explanations. Prepare thoroughly for your exam today!

Multiple Choice

What referred pain is the black arrow pointing to?

Pain from internal organs often shows up in a somatic region because visceral afferents converge with somatic nerves at the same spinal levels. The stomach sends afferent signals mainly to thoracic segments around T6–T9, so uncomfortable or burning pain is commonly felt in the epigastric area—the upper central abdomen just below the sternum. If the black arrow points to that epigastric region, it aligns with stomach referred pain. Conversely, patterns like pain in the right shoulder or right upper back point toward the liver or gallbladder due to phrenic nerve involvement; flank or groin pain suggests kidney/ureter; and periumbilical pain is more typical of other midgut structures such as the cecum or ascending colon. Thus the location described fits the stomach best.

Pain from internal organs often shows up in a somatic region because visceral afferents converge with somatic nerves at the same spinal levels. The stomach sends afferent signals mainly to thoracic segments around T6–T9, so uncomfortable or burning pain is commonly felt in the epigastric area—the upper central abdomen just below the sternum. If the black arrow points to that epigastric region, it aligns with stomach referred pain.

Conversely, patterns like pain in the right shoulder or right upper back point toward the liver or gallbladder due to phrenic nerve involvement; flank or groin pain suggests kidney/ureter; and periumbilical pain is more typical of other midgut structures such as the cecum or ascending colon. Thus the location described fits the stomach best.

More practice questions