Liver pain

Andrew Mason, MBBS MRCPI
Associate Professor of Medicine
Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine,
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
December 2002

Question 1a
What causes the Upper right quadrant pain that so many of us have?

Answer
We think that it may be due to an enlargement of the liver.

Question 1b
Is there anything that can be done to help this pain (Liver)?

Answer
Occasionally some get relief from laying on their left side.

 
Thomas Shaw-Stiffel, MD
Medical Director,
Living Donor Liver Transplantation
Univ of Pittsburgh
Medical Center - Presbyterian Hospital Center for Liver Diseases
March 2003

Question
What causes the Upper Right Quadrant pain that so many of us with PBC  have.  I know the liver does not have nerve endings but the pain is very real.

Answer
Many patients with other liver conditions especially hepatitis C complain about this. Perhaps it's due to stretching of the capsule or outer lining of the liver and that might be the case in PBC since most cases of PBC and other cholestatic disorders have an enlarged liver.