abdominal woman

abdominal woman

A term coined in the 21 April 1923 British Medical Journal referring to a middle-aged woman, most often an unmarried or, if married, childless, who constantly complains about abdominal malaise—e.g., constipation, flatulence, generalised weakness or exhaustion—especially after defecation, mental and physical torpor, poisoned feeling, vague generalised neuralgic pain. While some cases are due to endometriosis, abdominal exploration tends to be inconclusive. The ‘condition’ itself has been termed chronic abdomen and is the domain of the medics, just as the acute abdomen is the domain of surgeons.