'Women shouldn't ignore sudden abdominal pain as it's almost always serious'

For women, right-sided abdominal pain that comes on suddenly is nearly always serious and quite often ends up in A&E. ­Surgery is on the cards.

This is because causes of right-sided pain could be appendicitis, ectopic pregnancy and Crohn’s disease – all requiring immediate intervention.

It can be complicated because appendicitis needs a surgeon, ectopic pregnancy needs a gynaecologist and Crohn’s disease a physician to do a medical review of symptoms such as classically watery diarrhoea, weight loss and colicky abdominal pain.