Functional abdominal pain is the main etiology among children referred to tertiary care level for chronic abdominal pain

Abstract

– Background – Chronic abdominal pain (CAP) carries a significant burden of disease. The last edition of the Rome Criteria (Rome IV) allows the diagnosis of functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) according to symptoms-based criteria; however, patients continue to experience a delay in their diagnosis and to be submitted to different interventions before the establishment of a positive diagnosis. Objective – We aimed to characterize etiology, clinical features, and interventions in a pediatric cohort of patients with CAP secondary to FGIDs, who were referred to our tertiary care university-affiliated hospital, in Brazil. Methods – A retrospective descriptive study of children and adolescents (aged 20 years and younger) referred to our institution, from January/2013 to December/2018, for CAP, and who fulfilled criteria for FGIDs classified according to Rome IV criteria. Results – Three hundred twenty-eight patients with CAP were screened, of which 67.9% (223 patients) fulfilled the criteria for FGIDs and were included in the study. Sixty percent were female, with a mean age of 8.3 years. At the time of referral, the mean duration of symptoms was 2.8 years. Length/height for age and weight for age mean z-scores were-0.08±1.87 and-0.38±1.62, respectively. Functional abdominal pain not otherwise specified was overall the most common diagnosis (70.4%). Before establishing the diagnosis of FGIDs, multiple pharmacological interventions were described, while after, the mainstay of therapy was education/reassurance and dietary interventions. Thirty-two percent of patients did not further require specialized follow-up. Conclusion – Even at the tertiary care level, FGIDs were still the most common etiology of chronic abdominal pain, particularly functional abdominal pain not otherwise specified. Despite the relatively long duration of symptoms at referral, cessation of specialized care follow-up was possible in approximately a third of the cases.