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Chest pain is a serious symptom and a reason to see a doctor.
Localization of pain in the left half of the chest and in the left breast is often associated with pathology of the cardiovascular system, although it may be due to a number of other reasons.
Cardiovascular diseases
Cardiovascular diseases most often cause characteristic chest pain on the left. These may be conditions that threaten a person’s life or indicate the development of serious diseases.
Heart attack and ischemia
Chest pain on the left, radiating to the arm, is a typical sign of a heart attack, when the heart muscle becomes inflamed and atrophies. The precursor to this disease is coronary heart disease, which occurs as a result of impaired blood flow due to atherosclerosis.
Pericarditis
If the chest pain on the left side is sharply stabbing, this may be a sign of pericarditis. Pericarditis is an inflammation of the heart sac that is caused by infections and autoimmune processes. Pericarditis can easily be mistaken for a heart attack, but the pain associated with pericarditis is reduced when the person is standing.
Angina pectoris
Angina is an attack of pain in the chest on the left, as during a myocardial infarction. But it arises as a result of strong experiences, emotional upheavals and lasts no more than 5 minutes. Angina occurs due to insufficient blood supply to the heart. If chest pain on the left side lasts more than 5-7 minutes, it may be a sign of myocardial infarction.
Aortic aneurysm
Acute tearing pain in the chest on the left is one of the signs of an aortic aneurysm. An aortic aneurysm is a pathological enlargement of an artery that threatens human life. It is accompanied by difficulty breathing, numbness of the limbs, and difficulty speaking. Death is possible as a result of aortic rupture, so this pathological condition is especially dangerous.
Respiratory diseases
The human chest contains not only the heart, but also the bronchi and lungs. Therefore, chest pain on the left may be a sign of diseases of the respiratory system, among which there are also serious pathological conditions.
Pleurisy
Acute pain in the chest on the left, intensifying with inspiration, is characteristic of pleurisy. The lining of the lungs - the pleura - becomes inflamed during infectious diseases and secretes a special secretion that irritates the nerve endings and causes pain. Pleurisy accompanies pneumonia and other infectious lung diseases.
Spontaneous pneumothorax
If the integrity of the pleura is compromised (usually due to injury), air enters the lining of the lungs during inhalation, which causes pain. Pain in the chest area on the left side is accompanied by difficulty breathing, weakness and dizziness. The cause of spontaneous pneumothorax may be damage to the pleura as a result of chronic diseases.
Emphysema
With emphysema, the lungs lose their ability to get rid of excess air, which occurs due to loss of elasticity in the walls of the bronchi. Chest pain on the left or above the chest can occur due to this serious disease, which causes complications such as pneumothorax and respiratory failure. This dangerous condition requires immediate treatment.
Pulmonary embolism
The lungs are supplied with oxygen through the blood vessels, and a blood clot entering the pulmonary artery is called an embolism. This disease manifests itself as aching pain in the chest on the left and problems with breathing. Pulmonary embolism is characterized by increased pain with deep inspiration. It is not associated with cardiovascular diseases, but poses a potential threat to human life.
Pain and heaviness in the left hypochondrium
Gastritis
Ulcer
35725 May 27
IMPORTANT!
The information in this section cannot be used for self-diagnosis and self-treatment.
In case of pain or other exacerbation of the disease, diagnostic tests should be prescribed only by the attending physician. To make a diagnosis and properly prescribe treatment, you should contact your doctor. Pain and heaviness in the left hypochondrium: causes of occurrence, what diseases it occurs with, diagnosis and treatment methods.
Definition
The left hypochondrium is the area of the anterior abdominal wall located below the left costal arch. To understand the reasons for the development of pain in the left hypochondrium, it is necessary to know which organs are projected onto the area of the anterior abdominal wall.
The stomach is a section of the gastrointestinal tract, which is a muscular sac. Gastric juice is produced here, the main components of which are hydrochloric acid, pepsin (an enzyme that breaks down proteins) and mucin (mucus that protects the walls of the stomach from the aggressive effects of hydrochloric acid). Once in the stomach, protein food undergoes denaturation (a process of structure change, which can be represented as a change in egg white during heat treatment - thickening, as a result of which proteins become insoluble in water) due to the presence of hydrochloric acid, and the denatured protein, in turn, is digested under the action of pepsin. From the stomach, food enters the duodenum, where digestion continues.
The spleen is an organ of the immune system. The content of lymphocytes in the spleen reaches 85% of the total number of cells, which is almost 25% of all lymphocytes in the body. About 50% of spleen lymphocytes are represented by B-cells - humoral immunity depends on them. Thus, it is the spleen, along with the lymph nodes, that is the organ that provides humoral immunity. In addition, the destruction of old and abnormal red blood cells and platelets occurs in the spleen, which helps to renew the cellular composition of the blood.
In newborns, in addition to the stomach and spleen, the left lobe of the liver can be projected into the area of the left hypochondrium.
This is due to the fact that the liver occupies almost the entire epigastrium in infants. Types of pain and heaviness in the left hypochondrium
Pain and heaviness in the left hypochondrium can be acute or chronic. The pains are drawing, dull, bursting, spastic, “dagger”, shooting.
Depending on the presence of a provoking factor, pain can be spontaneous, or it can develop during meals or as a result of hunger, physical activity, or emotional stress.
According to the mechanism of development, pain is classified into spastic, distensional, peritoneal and vascular.
Possible causes of pain and heaviness in the left hypochondrium
The cause of pain is irritation of pain receptors located in the abdominal organs, in the peritoneum (the serous membrane that lines the abdominal cavity from the inside and passes to the abdominal organs), in the wall of the abdominal cavity. Spasmodic pain occurs due to uncontrolled persistent tension in the smooth muscles of the wall of a hollow organ, such as the stomach.
Muscle spasm can be triggered by the influence of the aggressive environment of gastric contents on the wall of the organ, activation of the structures of the autonomic nervous system.
The cause of the development of distension pain is excessive stretching of a hollow organ from the inside by its contents, which can happen when consuming an excess amount of food or impaired evacuation of contents from the stomach due to impaired motility or some mechanical obstruction in the outlet section of the stomach.
Peritoneal pain occurs due to irritation of the peritoneum. The peritoneum is a thin film that covers the inside of the abdominal wall and the organs located in it (some completely, others on several sides). As a result of the inflammatory process in the wall of the organ, local peritonitis develops - inflammation of the peritoneum, which is accompanied by pain.
Finally, the cause of vascular pain is cell death due to insufficient blood flow in any organ. Impaired blood flow is most often caused by blockage of a vessel (artery or vein) with a blood clot (thrombus).
Diseases leading to pain and heaviness in the left hypochondrium
One of the most common causes of pain in the left hypochondrium is stomach pathology. Gastritis
is an inflammation of the mucous membrane lining the stomach from the inside.
Gastritis can be associated with the entry of any aggressive chemicals into the stomach, with autoimmune inflammation, but most often the disease is associated with an infection caused by Helicobacter pylori
.
Helicobacter pylori bacterium
, being present in the body for a long time, can lead to more serious diseases - peptic ulcer of the stomach and duodenum, and in some cases - to tumor damage to the stomach.
Heaviness and pain in the left hypochondrium, often combined with pain behind the sternum, may indicate the presence of gastroesophageal reflux
(reflux of gastric contents back into the overlying esophagus).
Impaired evacuation of food from the stomach is more common in children in the first year of life due to pyloric spasm
and
pyloric stenosis
(transient or permanent organic disturbance of the patency of the pyloric - outlet - section of the stomach). In adults, this condition can be caused by neoplasms that become a mechanical obstacle to food in both the stomach and intestines.
Among the pathological conditions of the spleen that can lead to pain in the left hypochondrium, it is worth highlighting its enlargement (splenomegaly) and impaired blood supply (splenic infarction).
Splenomegaly
develops in various infectious diseases, diseases of the blood system, incl.
leukemia, as well as cirrhosis of the liver. The cause of splenic infarction
is thrombosis of its vessels, which occurs against the background of conditions characterized by increased blood clotting.
Separately, it is worth mentioning traumatic ruptures of the spleen
, which also lead to the development of pain, but the doctor will primarily be concerned about massive life-threatening intra-abdominal bleeding from the damaged organ.
It is important to remember that due to the proximity of the heart to this area, pain in the left hypochondrium can develop due to damage to the heart muscle - myocardial infarction
.
Which doctors should you contact if you have pain and heaviness in the left hypochondrium?
If you experience pain and a feeling of heaviness in the left hypochondrium, you should contact or. After a survey, clinical examination and the appointment of a number of laboratory and instrumental studies, the patient can be referred to specialized specialists - a hematologist, a nutritionist.
It should be remembered that acute intense pain in the left hypochondrium, especially in the presence of a previous injury or peptic ulcer, can be a symptom of acute surgical pathology.
In this case, an emergency consultation or calling an ambulance is indicated.
Diagnostics and examinations for pain and heaviness in the left hypochondrium
Identification of the cause of pain and heaviness in the left hypochondrium is based on data from an objective medical examination and auxiliary data from laboratory and instrumental studies. These include:
- clinical blood test with determination of the leukocyte formula, necessary to exclude anemia, blood diseases, as well as inflammatory processes in the body;
Spinal problems
The spine is connected to many organs, so spinal pain often radiates to the sternum. Often, a pressing dull pain on the left side of the chest may indicate problems in the thoracic spine.
Osteochondrosis
Pain in the chest and back on the left with osteochondrosis usually appears at a serious stage of the disease, when complications arise in the form of a vertebral hernia. In the thoracic region, osteochondrosis is most complex, since it is often accompanied by difficulty breathing and limited freedom of movement.
Injuries
With injuries to the sternum, aching or sharp pain in the left chest may appear, sometimes this is a sign of a rib fracture on the left side of the chest. The nature of the pain depends on the severity of the injury. In some cases, with spinal injuries, pain radiates to the left side of the chest.
Diagnostics
Such a complex symptom as aching or acute pain in the left chest requires careful diagnosis. The therapist decides where exactly to look for its cause.
by collecting detailed information about the circumstances under which the pain occurs and the patient's health status.
If necessary, the patient can be sent to a specialist neurologist
.
Diagnosis often begins with the exclusion of diseases of the cardiovascular system - an ECG
and a visit to
a cardiologist
; if necessary, the patient is prescribed
an echocardiogram
. In other cases, to diagnose diseases that cause chest pain on the left, blood tests, endoscopic, ultrasound and x-ray examinations can be prescribed.
Pain in the heart area radiates to the shoulder blade. Diagnostics
If your heart hurts and radiates under your shoulder blade, then you should consult a specialist as soon as possible. At the KDS Clinic, patients undergo a comprehensive examination using modern equipment and new technologies. After the initial examination, the patient informs the doctor about the nature and frequency of pain. The patient is referred for tests and examinations. When your heart hurts and radiates to your shoulder blade, visit a cardiologist, neurologist and orthopedist. Undergo ultrasound diagnostics, electrocardiogram and Holter examination. Call the clinic at number.
