Pain in the right upper abdomen

Pain in the right-sided upper abdomen makes us think of the liver first, even in pregnant women as in non-pregnant women. Also with pregnant women the same causes can be present here as with the non-pregnant women. Bile duct inflammation and gallstone disease can also be the cause here.

These pains have a wave-like character and come in regular attacks and then disappear again for a short time. The pain often radiates to the right shoulder or the heart area. They are often accompanied by nausea, vomiting and sweating.

Small intestinal ulcers or small intestinal bulges (=diverticula) can also be the cause. Kidney diseases also cause pain on the right side. Classically, liver diseases with pain in the right upper abdomen also appear.

This is where the liver lies below the diaphragm, where it is surrounded by a pain-sensitive capsule.Of course, causes such as hepatitis (= inflammation of the liver), thrombosis (= constipation due to blood clot formation) or the many other diseases of the liver must also be taken into consideration in pregnant women. A very dreaded complication, which is, however, due to the pregnancy and also manifests itself with upper abdominal pain, especially on the right side, is the so-called HELLP syndrome, a clinical picture that usually occurs after the 20th week of pregnancy (=SSW) and affects about 10% of pregnant women. The HELLP syndrome is a special form of pre-eclampsia.

This clinical picture is characterized by headaches and flickering eyes, high blood pressure, general malaise and water retention in the tissue, especially in the legs (=oedema). In this situation, a foaming urine caused by protein admixture is still conspicuous. In the case of HELLP syndrome, the blood clotting system is also disturbed.

The main symptom of HELLP syndrome is pain in the right upper abdomen accompanied by the other symptoms of pre-eclampsia, which can be more or less pronounced. The pain may also radiate into the back and be accompanied by vomiting and nausea. For the child, HELLP syndrome means an undersupply due to a deterioration in placental blood flow. It is important to recognize this clinical picture early on by checking coagulation and liver values. You can learn more about this topic on our page: HELLP syndrome