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Feeling Pulsing On Right Side Of Upper Abdomen. Have Annuerysm. Remedy?
Question: I keep feeling a pulsing on the right side of my rib or upper abdomen and am getting paranoid that I have an annuerysm. I am white female 34 and am too embarrassed to ask my doctor
Hi, thanks for using healthcare magic
Your concern is understandable.
An aneurysm is a localised dilation of a blood vessel. IN the abdominal area , it would most commonly involve the aorta.
It is most common to find these in older persons, men, with a history of atherosclerosis (cholesterol plaques causing problems with the peripheral circulation or chest pain).
Most persons do not have any symptoms though some may have back,abdominal or groin pain.
Some persons may also give a history of feeling a pulsatile mass like you are describing.
In persons with small unruptured aneurysms, treatment is aimed to reduce the chance of expansion or rupture. This means controlling risk factors such as smoking, high blood pressure. Medication is given to reduce the stress on the walls of the blood vessels.
If it is less than 3 cm on ultrasound, no further followup is needed.
If it is between 3 to 4 cm on ultrasound, an ultrasound is done once a year to check for changes
If it is 4 to 4.5 cm, then the ultrasound is done every 6 months
If the ultrasound puts the size greater than 4.5 cm then a referral to a vascular surgeon is needed.
You do not have to be embarrassed to ask your doctor. He or she will examine you and probably suggest an ultrasound. This is the only way to conclusively investigate it.
I hope this helps, feel free to ask any other questions
Your concern is understandable.
An aneurysm is a localised dilation of a blood vessel. IN the abdominal area , it would most commonly involve the aorta.
It is most common to find these in older persons, men, with a history of atherosclerosis (cholesterol plaques causing problems with the peripheral circulation or chest pain).
Most persons do not have any symptoms though some may have back,abdominal or groin pain.
Some persons may also give a history of feeling a pulsatile mass like you are describing.
In persons with small unruptured aneurysms, treatment is aimed to reduce the chance of expansion or rupture. This means controlling risk factors such as smoking, high blood pressure. Medication is given to reduce the stress on the walls of the blood vessels.
If it is less than 3 cm on ultrasound, no further followup is needed.
If it is between 3 to 4 cm on ultrasound, an ultrasound is done once a year to check for changes
If it is 4 to 4.5 cm, then the ultrasound is done every 6 months
If the ultrasound puts the size greater than 4.5 cm then a referral to a vascular surgeon is needed.
You do not have to be embarrassed to ask your doctor. He or she will examine you and probably suggest an ultrasound. This is the only way to conclusively investigate it.
I hope this helps, feel free to ask any other questions
Note: For further follow up on related General & Family Physician Click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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