Acute thoracolumbar pain due to cholecystitis: a case study

BACKGROUND: This article describes and discusses the case of an adult female with cholecystitis characterized on initial presentation as acute thoracolumbar pain. CASE PRESENTATION: A 34-year-old female presented for care with a complaint of acute right sided lower thoracic and upper lumbar pain with associated significant hyperalgesia and muscular hypertonicity. The patient was examined, referred, and later diagnosed by use of ultrasound imaging. CONCLUSION: Despite many initial physical examination findings of musculoskeletal dysfunction, this case demonstrates the significance of visceral referred pain, viscerosomatic hyperalgesia & hypertonicity, and how these neurological processes can mimic mechanical pain syndromes. A clinical neurological discussion of cholecystitis visceral pain and referred viscerosomatic phenomena is included.