Abdominal pain might be a warning sign of underlying digestive issues like irritable bowel syndrome or an ulcer. At Specialists in Gastroenterology, the board-certified gastroenterologists offer comprehensive diagnostic testing for abdominal pain at the office in St. Louis, Missouri. They also offer customized treatment plans to ease your pain and help you manage your condition in the long-term. Call to schedule a diagnostic evaluation or book an appointment online today.
There are several gastrointestinal conditions that can cause abdominal pain, including:
You can also develop abdominal pain due to blockages in your bowels or colon, or because of cancer in your stomach or GI tract.
Because some of the conditions that cause abdominal pain can be serious, it’s important that you get an accurate diagnosis. Schedule a diagnostic evaluation at Specialists in Gastroenterology if your pain lasts longer than a few days or doesn’t get better with home care.
Specialists in Gastroenterology reviews your medical history, lifestyle, and diet to understand the source of your abdominal pain. They also offer several on-site diagnostic tests, including:
Colonoscopy is a diagnostic procedure that involves the insertion of a scope with an attached camera into your rectum. As the scope moves up into your colon, the camera sends real-time images of your lower GI tract to a monitor that your provider watches to identify disease, damage, and obstructions.
Endoscopy also uses a camera attached to a flexible tube to identify issues that cause abdominal pain in your GI tract. The tube goes in through your mouth and esophagus and travels down to your stomach to identify issues affecting your upper GI tract.
A capsule endoscopy is similar to endoscopy except that the wireless camera is in a capsule that you swallow. As the capsule moves through your digestive tract, the camera takes pictures of your inner GI structures.
Through these tests, Specialists in Gastroenterology can identify the underlying GI disease that’s manifesting in abdominal pain and create a treatment plan to manage it.
Your treatment plan for abdominal pain depends on the nature of your condition. In many cases, you can expect to start with lifestyle and dietary changes to reduce irritation and inflammation in your digestive tract.
Several conditions, like chronic constipation and IBS, may require medications to relieve pain and prevent them from worsening. Specialists in Gastroenterology offers advanced fusion therapies on-site to treat IBD.
Your provider discusses all of your options for treating and managing GI diseases and disorders. They can also help you manage visceral hypersensitivity, which describes a lower threshold for pain in the inner organs and is a hallmark side effect of IBS.
To get help managing your abdominal pain, call Specialists in Gastroenterology or book an appointment online today.
