Abdominal Pain

Reference Number: HEY825/2025
Departments: Emergency Department
Last Updated: 30 November 2025

You can translate this leaflet by selecting a language from the dropdown menu:

Introduction

This leaflet provides general information about your condition and is designed to answer common questions. It is not intended to replace the conversation between you and your healthcare practitioner, but it may serve as a helpful source of additional information.

If you have any questions or concerns after reading this leaflet, please speak with a member of the Hull Emergency Department team caring for you.

You have been assessed by a healthcare practitioner for your abdominal pain. As part of this assessment, you were examined and may have had some tests to help rule out any serious conditions.

Abdominal pain is a very common symptom, and in many cases, the exact cause remains unclear. Fortunately, it usually improves on its own within a few days.

Based on your assessment today, the practitioner has determined that there are no signs of a serious cause and that it is safe for you to be discharged at this time.

Caring for your abdominal pain

If you have been given pain relief by the practitioner, please take it as advised. You can also take simple painkillers regularly, such as paracetamol, to help manage your discomfort.

It is usually best to avoid anti-inflammatory medications (such as ibuprofen) unless you have been specifically advised to take them by the practitioner caring for you.

Can there be any complications or risks?

Please return to the Emergency Department or call for an ambulance if you experience any of the following:

Very severe abdominal pain
Pain that spreads to your back
Shoulder pain
Fever or shivering
Vomiting or passing blood from your back passage (rectum)
Fainting or collapsing
Blood in your urine

These symptoms may be a sign of a more serious condition and should be assessed further.

What pain relief can I use?

There are two main types of pain relief that may be used:

Paracetamol: This should be taken regularly, as advised by the practitioner.
Codeine-based medication: This is a stronger type of pain relief and comes in different strengths. It is often combined with paracetamol (co-codamol).

Important: If you are taking a codeine and paracetamol combination (such as co-codamol), do not take any additional paracetamol, as this could lead to an overdose. In addition, codeine can be constipating. If this becomes a problem, you can take over-the-counter laxatives.

If your pain is not well controlled with the medication provided, please contact your GP for further advice or review.

Should you require further advice on the issues contained in this leaflet, please do not hesitate to contact the Emergency Medicine Department on: Tel: 01482 482251

General Advice and Consent

Most of your questions should have been answered by this leaflet, but remember that this is only a starting point for discussion with the healthcare team.

Consent to treatment

Before any doctor, nurse or therapist examines or treats you, they must seek your consent or permission. In order to make a decision, you need to have information from health professionals about the treatment or investigation which is being offered to you. You should always ask them more questions if you do not understand or if you want more information.

The information you receive should be about your condition, the alternatives available to you, and whether it carries risks as well as the benefits. What is important is that your consent is genuine or valid. That means:

you must be able to give your consent

you must be given enough information to enable you to make a decision

you must be acting under your own free will and not under the strong influence of another person

Information about you

We collect and use your information to provide you with care and treatment. As part of your care, information about you will be shared between members of a healthcare team, some of whom you may not meet. Your information may also be used to help train staff, to check the quality of our care, to manage and plan the health service, and to help with research. Wherever possible we use anonymous data.

We may pass on relevant information to other health organisations that provide you with care. All information is treated as strictly confidential and is not given to anyone who does not need it. If you have any concerns please ask your doctor, or the person caring for you.

Under the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018 we are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of any information we hold about you. For further information visit the following page: Confidential Information about You.

If you or your carer needs information about your health and wellbeing and about your care and treatment in a different format, such as large print, braille or audio, due to disability, impairment or sensory loss, please advise a member of staff and this can be arranged.