ABDOMINAL MASSES: Locations and Common Causes

The location of an abdominal mass provides an important clue to the causative disorder. Here are the disorders most commonly responsible for abdominal masses in each of the four abdominal quadrants.

Right Upper Quadrant:

• Aortic Aneursym (epigastric area)
• Cholecystitis or cholelithiasis
• Gallbladder, gastric, or hepatic carcinoma
• Hepatomegaly
• Hydronephrosis
• Pancreatic abscess or pseudocysts
• Renal cell calculi

Left Upper Quadrant:

• Aortic Aneursym (epigastric area)
• Gastric carcinoma (epigastric area)
• Hydronephrosis
• Pancreatic abscess (epigastric area)
• Pancreatic pseudocysts (epigastric area)
• Renal cell carcinoma
• Splenomegaly

Right Lower Quadrant:

• Bladder distention (suprapubic area)
• Colon cancer
• Crohn's disease
• Ovarian cyst (suprapubic area)
• Uterine leiomyomas (suprapubic area)

Left Lower Quadrant:

• Bladder distention (suprapubic area)
• Colon cancer
• Diverticulitis
• Ovarian cyst (suprapubic area)
• Uterine leiomyomas (suprapubic area)
• Volvulus

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