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Tensing of the abdominal wall muscles to guard inflamed organs within the abdomen from the pain of pressure upon them.

The abdominal cavity is one body cavity of the human body (and animal bodies) that holds the bulk of the viscera and which is located below (or inferior to) the thoracic cavity, and above the pelvic cavity. It is a part of the abdominopelvic cavity.

Organs of the abdominal cavity include the stomach, liver, gallbladder, spleen, pancreas, small intestine, kidneys, and large intestine.

The abdominal cavity is lined with a protective membrane termed the peritoneum. The kidneys are located in the abdominal cavity behind the peritoneum, in the retroperitoneum. The viscera are also covered, in the front, with a layer of peritoneum called the greater omentum (or omental apron).

Wingerd, Bruce (1994). The Human Body: Concepts of Anatomy and Physiology. Fort Worth: Saunders College Publishing. pp. 12. ISBN 0-03-055507-8.

. Austin, Texas: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. 2002. pp. 1138. ISBN 0-03-055507-8.

A ballooning or widening of the main artery (the aorta) as it courses down through the abdomen. At the point of the aneurysm, the aneurysm usually measures 3 cm or more in diameter. The aneurysm weakens the wall of the aorta and can end in the aorta rupturing with catastrophic consequences. As the diameter of the aorta increases, the chances of an abdominal aortic aneurysm rupturing rise. A measurement of 5 cm is often used to recommend surgery. Persons with AAA tend to be 60 or over. Men are 5 times more likely than women to have an AAA.

 Relating to the abdomen, the belly, that part of the body that contains all of the structures between the chest and the pelvis.