Epigastric Pain

There are several reasons that could be causing TJ epigastric pain. According to Kerkar (2016), epigastric pain usually occur immediately after eating a meal or when lying down after food consumption. It can be associated with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) which causes pain and inflammation as a result of food content backing up towards the esophagus from the stomach. Other medical conditions associated with epigastric pain include gastritis, pancreatitis, peptic ulcer disease (PUD), hiatal hernia, liver function, duodenal ulcers, gallstones, gastroenteritis, or carcinoma of the stomach. In rare cases, epigastric pain may be caused by cardiac abnormality (Kerkar, 2016).

To diagnose the main cause of TJ pain, history, physical examination, laboratory tests, and imaging studies must be

His vital signs and blood work are all within normal range. Additional blood work test include, amylase and lipase measurements to rule out pancreatitis, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) to detect inflammatory activity in the body, abdominal x-ray to look for any masses and endoscopy to inspect the esophagus for any lesions. A CT scan or an MRI may be done to identify the cause of epigastric pain as well depending on the other symptoms he may be experiencing (Kerkar, 2016). There are other variables to consider while evaluating TJ case. He has a previous history of bleeding ulcer that was treated with multiple prescriptions although he did not complete his therapy course. TJ is at a risk of peptic ulceration due to usage of over-the-counter (OTC) NSAIDs that he takes for his osteoarthritis pain. NSAIDs are linked with gastric mucosal damage and ulcer formation which consequently result to gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding. NSAIDs should be