I Have Had Intermittent Mid Back Pressure That I Have

Posted on Wed, 6 Mar 2019

Question: I have had intermittent mid back pressure that I have attributed to gas as I'm very active and in good cardio health. I do have a tendency to belch as well at the same time which has lead me to the gas conclusion. Had a comp met profile that showed normal alk phos and bilirubin 2 wks ago while monitoring statin therapy. Had and abdominal ct w and w/o contrast showing a normal pancreas and liver.13 months ago. Is there any chance I could have pancreatic cancer? I'm otherwise healthy , no weight loss. I was hoping my tests would rule that out. I haven't mentioned my symptoms/concerns to my doctor. Thank you.

Answered by Dr. Ramesh Kumar (8 hours later)

Brief Answer:
As CT was normal it can't be pancreatic cancer.

Detailed Answer:
Welcome to 'Ask A Doctor' service.

I have gone through your query in details.

Your problem seems to be due to dyspepsia or incomplete digestion of food. Our gastrointestinal tract has a forward propulsive movement (peristalsis) that moves the food material forward as it is digested, absorbed and finally expelled as faeces.

If somehow this movement gets hampered, Degradation of undigested food in the intestines by the intestinal bacteria would lead to the excess gas formation. This excessive gas compresses the nerves passing through the intestines causing pain.

All I would suggest you is to take light easily digestible food for a few days (preferably vegetarian) along with activated charcoal tablets.

With normal CT it's not likely to be carcinoma.
Let me know if I can assist you further.

Thanks!

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Arnab Banerjee