I have a bad left pain under the last (lowest) rib of my rib cage and
I wanted to look throuhg the PubMed records to see if it's an actual
diagnosis of something but it would help narrow my search if I know
what # rib this is...

I am a 32 year old woman (in case you need to know that?)

Dear spotlessmind-ga; 

Thank you for allowing me to answer your interesting question. Most
humans have 12 pairs of ribs for a total of 24 individual ribs (though
some people have been known to have only 23 ribs or in relatively rare
cases 25 or 26). Normally, our ribs are numbered in pairs, 1-12.
Therefore, if you are typical, the rib you are referring to is the
number 12, or more precisely, the 12th left rib.

You can see the numbering convention in the diagrams on these pages. 

EMEDICINE
http://www.emedicine.com/radio/topic609.htm
(Picture #8)

THE SHOCK FAMILY WEB PAGE
http://www.shockfamily.net/skeleton/RIBS.HTML


You will note in the diagram that some of the lower ribs appear
detached. This is normal. The first seven ribs attach to the sternum
(the breast bone) in the front and are known as ?true ribs? (or
?sternal ribs?). The lower five ribs do not directly connect to the
sternum and are known as ?false ribs?. Of the lower five, the upper
three false ribs connect to the costal cartilages of the ribs just
above them. The last two false ribs, however, usually have no ventral
attachment (no anchor at all in front) and are called ?floating ribs?,
fluctuating or vertebral ribs.

I hope you find that my answer exceeds your expectations. If you have
any questions about my research please post a clarification request
prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating and your
final comments and I look forward to working with you again in the
near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.

Best regards;

Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher


[INFORMATION SOURCES]

SPINE AND HUMAN ANATOMY: QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
http://www.spineuniverse.com/displayarticle.php/article2263.html

MEDTERMS
http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=8807


[SEARCH STRATEGY]


SEARCH ENGINE(S) USED:

Google ://www.google.com
 

[SEARCH TERMS USED]

Ribs

Ribcage

Humans

Number

dear spotlessmind,
if you are still alive, may i suggest that you seek professional
medical advice asap in regard to your left abdominal pain. pubmed is
primarily a tool for researcher in the biomedical field and relates to
journal articles in these fields. your problem seems to be a
physical/medical problem and one in which you will not find answers
for in pubmed. some important diagnoses that need to be ruled out in
your particular case includes a myocardial infarction; ischaemic
bowel; and a pneumothorax or pulmonary embolism.

dear spotlessmind,
if you are still alive, may i suggest that you seek professional
medical advice asap in regard to your left abdominal pain. pubmed is
primarily a tool for researchers in the biomedical field and relates
to journal articles in these fields. your problem seems to be a
physical/medical problem and one in which you will not find answers
for in pubmed. some important diagnoses that need to be ruled out in
your particular case include a myocardial infarction; ischaemic bowel;
and a pneumothorax or pulmonary embolism.