What type of pain is localized to the lining of the abdominal cavity?

• A. Somatic pain
• B. Parietal pain
• C. Visceral pain
• D. Referred pain

Answer: (B)

Pain localized to the lining of the abdominal cavity is parietal pain. This comes from the parietal peritoneum, which is supplied by somatic nerves, so when it’s irritated the result is sharp, well-localized pain that you can point to precisely and that often worsens with movement or touch. In contrast, visceral pain—originating from the internal organs—tounds from the organ itself and tends to be dull, crampy, and poorly localized. Referred pain is when the brain perceives pain in a different area than the actual source because of shared neural pathways. So, the localized, sharp, precisely located abdominal wall lining pain is parietal pain.