Recurring Abdominal Pain

You need to be evaluated for bleeding, infection or cancer within your upper digestive tract. Contact your doctor for an urgent evaluation.

Pain with blood in the vomit or blackened stools could represent an ulcer in your stomach or small intestine, irritation in the stomach lining ("gastritis"), or cancer. Fever could arise from an abdominal infection such as an abscess, a cancer, or a break (perforation) in the stomach lining at the site of an ulcer.

Based on your symptoms, your doctor is likely to recommend evaluation with either an endoscopy test (esophagogastroduodenoscopy, or "EGD") or a computed tomography scan (CT scan).

With an EGD, a doctor can view the inside of your esophagus, stomach, and the first segment of your small intestine by way of a flexible tube and camera. This is a particularly helpful test if you have evidence of bleeding from the upper digestive tract.

Your doctor might choose a computed tomography scan if your symptoms involve fever or weight loss. Certain cancers or infections are visible on a CT scan.

Some specific diagnoses that your doctor may consider include

• stomach cancer

• gastritis

• peptic ulcer disease.