What are the characteristics of pain in patients with liver cancer

The vast majority of patients with mid- to late-stage liver cancer will experience symptoms of pain in the liver area, with an incidence rate of over 50%. This is mainly due to the rapid growth of the tumor, which compresses or invades the liver capsule, which has abundant nerve endings and causes pain.

The pain in the liver area of ​​patients with mid- to late-stage liver cancer is generally located in the right rib or under the xiphoid process, and the nature of the pain is mostly persistent dull pain, dull pain or stabbing pain. However, the pain in a small number of patients may have special manifestations that lead to misdiagnosis. For example, the pain area of ​​some patients is located in the upper and middle abdomen, which is mostly caused by left lobe liver cancer, but sometimes it is misdiagnosed as stomach disease and delayed treatment; some patients may also 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 frozen shoulder.

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.

In addition, if liver cancer patients have abdominal lymph node metastasis or spinal metastasis, they may experience back pain, while metastasis to other bones may cause pain in the corresponding parts, and metastasis to the brain may cause headaches and nausea.