Abdomen

Looks like

A soft, muscular bag between ribs and hips, packed with the gut, liver, pancreas, spleen and kidneys.

What it does

Digests food, cleans the blood, stores fuel and defends against what is swallowed.

Keeping it well

Fibre, water, moderate alcohol, hand washing. Pain that is sudden and severe, or lasts and comes with weight loss, needs looking at.

Its parts

• Skin of abdomen
• Pubic region
• Abdominal wall
• Gastrointestinal tract
• Liver
• Pancreas & spleen
• Kidneys & ureters
• Abdominal aorta & branches
• Inferior vena cava
• Lumbar spine (L1–L5)
• Psoas major & iliacus
• Quadratus lumborum
• Para-aortic & mesenteric lymph nodes
• Cisterna chyli
• Coeliac (solar) plexus
• Inferior epigastric vein
• Musculophrenic vein
• Superficial epigastric vein
• Superior epigastric vein
• Lumbar plexus

Related conditions

• Achalasia
• Achondroplasia
• Acid reflux (GERD)
• Acromegaly
• Acute kidney injury
• Acute liver failure
• Acute mesenteric ischaemia (gut stroke)
• Acute porphyria
• Adrenal insufficiency (Addison's)
• Alcohol withdrawal and delirium tremens
• Alcohol-related liver disease
• Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency
• Amyloidosis (AL and ATTR)
• Aortic aneurysm
• Appendicitis
• Autoimmune haemolytic anaemia
• Autoimmune hepatitis
• B12 & folate deficiency
• Barrett's oesophagus
• Bile duct cancer (cholangiocarcinoma)
• Biliary atresia
• Bladder cancer
• Botulism
• Bowel obstruction
• Brucellosis
• Burnout
• Candida & fungal infection
• Cauda equina syndrome
• Chagas disease
• Chickenpox (varicella)
• Chronic constipation
• Chronic kidney disease
• Chronic leukaemia (CML & CLL)
• Chronic neuropathic pain
• Chronic pain syndrome
• Chronic venous insufficiency
• Cirrhosis
• Clostridioides difficile colitis
• Clotting disorders (thrombophilia & APS)
• Coeliac disease
• Colon polyps
• Colorectal cancer
• Congenital adrenal hyperplasia
• Crohn's disease
• Cushing's syndrome
• Cystic fibrosis
• Deep vein thrombosis
• Dehydration & electrolyte disorders
• Dengue & mosquito-borne fevers
• Diabetes insipidus (arginine vasopressin deficiency)
• Diabetic ketoacidosis
• Diverticular disease
• Eating disorders
• Ebola virus disease
• Echinococcosis (hydatid disease)
• Eosinophilic oesophagitis
• Essential thrombocythaemia
• Eye melanoma (uveal melanoma)
• Fibromyalgia
• Food poisoning
• Fractures
• Fragility fracture
• Frailty & falls in older age
• Functional dyspepsia (indigestion)
• G6PD deficiency (favism)
• Gallbladder cancer
• Gallstones
• Gastritis
• Gastroenteritis
• Gastrointestinal bleeding
• Gastroparesis
• Gestational diabetes
• Giardiasis
• Gilbert's syndrome
• Glomerulonephritis
• Guillain-Barré syndrome
• Haemochromatosis & Wilson's disease
• Haemolytic uraemic syndrome
• Hantavirus infection
• Heat exhaustion & heatstroke
• Hepatic encephalopathy
• Hereditary cancer syndromes (BRCA, Lynch)
• Hereditary spherocytosis
• Hernia (inguinal, hiatal, umbilical)
• Herniated disc
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Hirschsprung's disease
• Hydronephrosis
• Hyperemesis gravidarum
• Hyperparathyroidism
• Hyperthyroidism & Graves' disease
• Hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar)
• Hypothermia & frostbite
• Hypothyroidism
• IgA nephropathy
• Immune thrombocytopenia
• Infant colic
• Infectious mononucleosis
• Intestinal worms & schistosomiasis
• Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy
• Intussusception & pyloric stenosis
• Iron deficiency
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Ischaemic colitis
• Kawasaki disease
• Kidney cancer
• Kidney infection
• Kidney stones
• Lactose & food intolerance
• Lead poisoning
• Leishmaniasis
• Leptospirosis (Weil's disease)
• Liver abscess (pyogenic and amoebic)
• Liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma)
• Lyme disease
• Lymphoma (Hodgkin & non-Hodgkin)
• Malaria
• Mallory–Weiss tear
• Malnutrition & refeeding syndrome
• Menopause & perimenopause
• Mesothelioma
• Metabolic fatty liver disease (MASLD)
• Metabolic syndrome
• Microscopic colitis
• Motion sickness
• Mumps
• Muscular dystrophy
• Myasthenia gravis
• Myelofibrosis
• Necrotising enterocolitis
• Nephrotic syndrome
• Neuroblastoma
• Neuroendocrine tumours (carcinoid)
• Newborn jaundice
• Non-specific low back pain
• Obesity
• Oesophageal cancer
• Orthostatic hypotension & POTS
• Osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bone disease)
• Osteomalacia & rickets
• Osteomyelitis (bone infection)
• Osteoporosis
• Ovarian cancer
• Paget's disease of bone
• Pancreatic cancer
• Pancreatitis
• Peptic ulcer disease
• Peripheral artery disease
• Peripheral neuropathy
• Peritonitis
• Phaeochromocytoma & hyperaldosteronism
• Phenylketonuria (PKU)
• Poisoning & overdose
• Polycystic kidney disease
• Polycystic ovary syndrome
• Polycythaemia vera
• Polymyalgia rheumatica
• Portal vein thrombosis and Budd–Chiari syndrome
• Postnatal depression
• Pre-eclampsia
• Prediabetes
• Primary biliary cholangitis
• Primary sclerosing cholangitis
• Rabies
• Radiation injury
• Raynaud's phenomenon
• Renal artery stenosis
• Restless legs syndrome
• Rhabdomyolysis
• Sarcoma
• Sarcopenia
• Sciatica
• Sepsis
• Shingles (herpes zoster)
• Shock (circulatory failure)
• SIADH (inappropriate antidiuretic hormone)
• Sickle cell disease
• Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO)
• Spinal stenosis
• Spondylolisthesis
• Stomach cancer
• Systemic lupus erythematosus
• Testicular cancer
• Tetanus
• Thalassaemia
• Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP)
• Toxic shock syndrome
• Tuberous sclerosis complex
• Type 1 diabetes
• Type 2 diabetes
• Typhoid & cholera
• Ulcerative colitis
• Undescended testis (cryptorchidism)
• Urinary tract infection
• Varicose veins
• Vasculitis (GCA & others)
• Vesicoureteral reflux
• Viral hepatitis (A, B, C, D, E)
• Vitamin B1, C and other deficiencies
• Vitamin D deficiency
• Volvulus (twisted bowel)
• Wilms tumour (nephroblastoma)
• Yellow fever