Evaluation of Children Presenting with Recurrent Abdominal Pain in Pediatrics OPD in a tertiary care hospital

Abstract

Background: Recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) is a common problem in pediatric patients. It is one of the commonest causes for OPD visits in pediatrics patients. It is defined as “at least three episodes of abdominal pain, severe enough to affect children activities over a period longer than three months”. We evaluated the common causes of RAP in children visiting our OPD in this study.
Materials and methods- We conducted this study in the Department of pediatrics, Bhagwan Mahavir Institute of Medical Sciences, Pawapuri, Nalanda, over a period of 6 months from April 2023 to September 2023. All children between 2- 12 years of age presenting with pain abdomen in pediatric OPD were included in the study. Children having age < 2years, history of surgery or trauma and cases with acute gastroenteritis were excluded. Proper history was taken from each case followed by clinical examination and relevant investigations were done to find the cause of RAP.
Results – A total of 102 patients with RAP were included in the study. They were divided in two groups- 2 years to 6 years age group and 6-12 years age group. There were 62.74% males and 37.26% females. Organic RAP (ORAP) was seen in 68.6% patients while non organic RAP (NORAP) was seen in 31.4% cases. The most common cause of ORAP was Giardiasis (accounting for 20 %) followed by constipation and gall bladder stone. The most common predisposing factor for NORAP was school phobia.
Conclusion – As most cases of RAP are due to organic causes, proper evaluation with appropriate investigation is necessary for proper management of these cases. Those with NORAP may require psychiatric evaluation and behavioral therapy.