It is typically poorly localized and often associated with nausea, vomiting, and diaphoresis, particularly when it is acute. Tenderness at the referred cutaneous site may occur.
Visceral pain is mediated through both the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous systems.
So-called silent nociceptors have been identified in visceral tissues. The sensitization of silent visceral nociceptors has been implicated in the development of chronic abdominal pain associated with syndromes such as inflammatory bowel disease. Pain resulting from injury to the spinal cord or brain, especially when complicating cerebrovascular, demyelinating, or traumatic CNS injury is involved, is usually termed central pain. Pain resulting from neural injury is often severe, and the quality is different from somatic or visceral pain. These paroxysms of pain may be associated with spontaneous and ectopic activity in the peripheral and central nervous systems.