Hello my name is Paul, I'm brand new here at the Health Boards.
I was hoping someone might be able to help me.
I've been suffering for over two years now with moderate to severe abdominal pain. It's usually accompanied by head & facial pain similar to flu type symptoms, that leave me dizzy and disoriented.
Here's my story: I lived with an inguinal hernia on my right side for almost nine years before having it repaired in October 2001. That thing was so huge my appendix dropped down inside the hernia! I'm sure all the problems I have now came from living with the hernia for so long. I was constipated all the time. I could barely keep any food down, I threw up almost everyday. Why did I live with it for so long? I had a major fear of hospitals and being cut open. Finally after realizing I would eventually die, I had the operation.Now, I have been seeing a doctor regularly.
Anyway, since the hernia repair, I've had this pain on my left side from my ribs all the way down to my pelvic area.It feels like my colon is all swollen up or something. I've had numerous tests like: barium enema, colonoscopy and CT scan. All have come up negative. My doctor tells me there is nothing wrong with me. If there's nothing wrong, why do I hurt so bad?!
So my question is: How reliable are these CT scans anyway? Do they ever miss? Should I have another one, or would it do any good? Btw, I'm 36.
CT scans are ver accurate at looking at soft tissues especially if it doesn't have to go through bone. So abdominal and pelvic scan are ver accurate. Wit that said, ct scans aren't 100% accurate. I don't know if there is a diagnostic test that is. The scan can't see certain organs as well such as the pancreas and GB because they are behind other organs. The scan isn't as good as an MRI on the head because of the skull. You get the idea. My doctor and I am assuming most doctors rely heavily on the results of CT and other diagnostic scans. If the scan don't show anything, they assume everything is okay. Good luck!
I have to agree with Actudan, but I'd like to add that I've been to a manufacturing facility for MRI scanners - Philips in Holland - and they have amazing technology to say the least - (I was on a tour with other engineers). MRI scanner photos that they had, had amazing clarity of every part of the body. It all depends on the price the clinic/hospital payed for the scanner. Obviously, the more you pay the more you get. The MRI scanners they had ranged from small ones, specifically designed for the head - the closer the magnet is to your head, the better the resolution they can get, and they had larger models, where the entire person is slid into the openning of the magnet on a bed.
MRI is a lot less invasive than a CT or PET scan (these use X-rays, whereas MRI uses a magnet -magnets don't leave any residual effects)- I don't even know why these technologies still exist! I suppose that it is a bit like the picture tube based TV - they've been around longer, so they are better researched and cheaper to build because of the lower research and marketing costs.
Just some food for thought. Cheers, Raju.
Last edited by 6th_sense; 11-16-2003 at 10:03 PM.
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CT scans are ver accurate at looking at soft tissues especially if it doesn't have to go through bone. So abdominal and pelvic scan are ver accurate. Wit that said, ct scans aren't 100% accurate. I don't know if there is a diagnostic test that is. The scan can't see certain organs as well such as the pancreas and GB because they are behind other organs. The scan isn't as good as an MRI on the head because of the skull. You get the idea. My doctor and I am assuming most doctors rely heavily on the results of CT and other diagnostic scans. If the scan don't show anything, they assume everything is okay. Good luck!
Just wanted to make a small comment here...the CT scan CAN see the pancreas and the gall bladder....it doesn't matter that they're behind other organs because the CT scanner takes pictures like it's slicing through bread. Imagine laying someone flat on a table, looking at the soles of their feet and then cutting sections through them all the way up their body. That's exactly how a CT works, and you're seeing organs both that are at the front of the body, and things that are at the back.
Secondly, in terms of this whole abdominal pain thing....you can still have pain even though there's nothing physically wrong with your bowels. My guess is, as it is you sound like a very anxious person....I am in NO way insulting you, but what I am saying is that, you DID have a surgery done on your abdomen, you've been going through years of difficulty with your symptoms, and I think what's happened is that your body has been accumstomed to become very sensitive to sensory stimuli to the point where things that are not normally painful, are. Does this mean that it's in your head? No!!! It's real pain, and it should be treated seriously. The pain that you're feeling is probably a lot like fibromyalgia....i.e. in that there is nothing physically wrong.
What you can be encouraged with is the fact that you don't have any bad disease that's going to kill you. You have a functional condition that has to be approached by training yourself to become less sensitive to pain stimuli. This can also be helped along with analgesic drugs including narcotics if necessary.
Just wanted to make a small comment here...the CT scan CAN see the pancreas and the gall bladder....it doesn't matter that they're behind other organs because the CT scanner takes pictures like it's slicing through bread. Imagine laying someone flat on a table, looking at the soles of their feet and then cutting sections through them all the way up their body. That's exactly how a CT works, and you're seeing organs both that are at the front of the body, and things that are at the back.
Secondly, in terms of this whole abdominal pain thing....you can still have pain even though there's nothing physically wrong with your bowels. My guess is, as it is you sound like a very anxious person....I am in NO way insulting you, but what I am saying is that, you DID have a surgery done on your abdomen, you've been going through years of difficulty with your symptoms, and I think what's happened is that your body has been accumstomed to become very sensitive to sensory stimuli to the point where things that are not normally painful, are. Does this mean that it's in your head? No!!! It's real pain, and it should be treated seriously. The pain that you're feeling is probably a lot like fibromyalgia....i.e. in that there is nothing physically wrong.
What you can be encouraged with is the fact that you don't have any bad disease that's going to kill you. You have a functional condition that has to be approached by training yourself to become less sensitive to pain stimuli. This can also be helped along with analgesic drugs including narcotics if necessary.
I made the comment on ct scans not being able to see the pancreas and gallbladder very well because that is the info I was given by the technician. I assumed the reason was because those organs lie behind other organs. My ct scan report did have a write up on the pancreas basically saying nothing abnormal was seen. So I guess that shows the ct scan does see the organ but I thought the procedure just wasn't as accurate in seeing those organs. Anyway, thanks for pointing out that ct scans CAN see the pancreas and the gall bladder. I didn't want anyone to think that the procedure did not see those organs but rather the ct scan may not be the best at seeing problems with those organs which I assumed to be due to being blocked by other organs. I probably made a wrong assumption. I figured the HIDA and ultrasound were better tests for the gallbladder and an ERCP or endoscopic ultrasound were better for the pancreas.
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