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Abdominal Pain – What is Abdominal Pain In Children? | Childhood Abdominal Pain | Child In Abdominal Pain

Abdominal pain is one of the most common reasons for a parent to bring his or her child to medical attention. Evaluation of a tummy ache can challenge both parents and the physician.Possible causes for a child’s abdominal pain range from trivial to life threatening, with little difference in the child’s complaints. Fortunately, abdominal pain in a child usually improves quickly. Each parent or caregiver faces the difficulty deciding whether a complaint needs emergency care or not.

Chronic and recurrent abdominal pain are common in children and adolescents. It occurs in 9 to 15 percent of all children. In boys, pain is most common between ages 5 and 6 years. Girls have pain most commonly between 5 and 6 years and 9 and 10 years.The pain is severe enough to limit a child’s activity or school attendance over the course of at least three months. The terms chronic and recurrent may be used interchangeably.

Although most children with acute abdominal pain have self-limited conditions, the pain may herald a surgical or medical emergency. The most difficult challenge is making a timely diagnosis so that treatment can be initiated and morbidity prevented. This article provides a comprehensive clinical guideline for the evaluation of the child with acute abdominal pain.Some children suffer repeat attacks of stomach pain, which can be worrying for parents. Often, no health problem can be found.Children may feel stomach pain when they are worried about themselves or people around them.

Think about whether there is anything that is upsetting your child at home, school or kindergarten, or with friends. See your local doctor for advice. A referral may be needed to a paediatrician.It is a frustrating concern to the child, the parents and the physician. The differential diagnosis of abdominal pain in children varies with age, gender, genetic predisposition, nutritional exposure and many environmental factors. While efforts to distinguish organic from functional abdominal pain are admirable, these apparently opposing etiologies are not mutually exclusive in children, since psychologic complications of organic disease are common.

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