Characteristics of pain in patients with liver cancer

Pain is a common symptom in patients with liver cancer. Its main characteristics are as follows:

The pain is usually located in the liver area

The liver pain in patients with mid-to-late stage liver cancer is generally located in the right rib or under the xiphoid process. The nature of the pain is mostly persistent dull pain, or stabbing pain. A small number of patients may have special pain manifestations. Liver cancer patients may also have referred pain in other parts of the body. The pain area of ​​some patients is located in the upper and middle abdomen, which is mostly caused by left lobe liver cancer. However, it is sometimes misdiagnosed as stomach disease and delayed treatment. Some patients may experience right shoulder pain, which is clinically more common in tumors in the right lobe close to the diaphragm, because it involves the diaphragm and causes referred pain in the right shoulder, which is easily misdiagnosed as periarthritis of the shoulder.

Sudden severe liver pain

Clinically, a small number of patients may experience sudden severe pain in the liver area, which is mostly caused by rupture and bleeding of cancerous nodules located on the surface of the liver. If the patient is also accompanied by dizziness, blurred vision, palpitations, and low blood pressure, it mostly indicates that the cancerous nodule has ruptured and is complicated by severe internal bleeding. If this happens, emergency rescue should be carried out in time.

Pain may also occur in liver cancer metastases

When liver cancer metastasizes to other parts of the body, symptoms of metastasis will appear. When it metastasizes to the lungs, chest pain may occur; when it metastasizes to the bones, bone pain may occur. Therefore, when liver cancer patients experience chest pain or bone pain, they should consider that it is caused by liver cancer metastasis.