OBJECTIVE To (i) describe the proportion of children presenting with abdominal pain diagnosed by the GP as functional abdominal pain (GPFAP); (ii) evaluate the association between patient and disease characteristics and GPFAP; (iii) describe diagnostic management by the GP in children presenting with abdominal pain, and (iv) evaluate whether children with GPFAP fulfill diagnostic criteria for f...

Introduction. Most spinal-cord-injured patients have constipation. One-third develop chronic abdominal pain 10 years or more after injury. Nevertheless, very little is known about the nature of abdominal pain after spinal cord injury (SCI). It may be neuropathic or caused by constipation. Aim. To compare characteristics of abdominal pain in SCI with able-bodied with chronic idiopathic constipat...

BACKGROUND Abdominal pain is a relatively frequent occurrence in sickle cell disease. The aetiology of abdominal pain in sickle cell disease is often difficult to diagnose clinically. Despite the frequent occurrence, diagnostic dilemma, and the need for an accurate, early diagnosis, abdominal pain in sickle cell disease has not been rigorously studied. OBJECTIVE We therefore sought to describ...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the prevalence of lactose and fructose intolerance in children with chronic abdominal pain. METHODS Hydrogen breath tests were done to detect lactose and fructose malabsorption in 86 children with chronic abdominal pain (44 irritable bowel syndrome, 24 functional abdominal pain and 17 functional abdominal pain syndrome as per Rome III criteria) presenting to a Pediatr...

paroxysmal abdominal pain characterized by episodes of abdominal pain in children 4 to 16 years of age, lasting more than 3 months and affecting normal activity [1]. The Pediatric Rome II classification has been proposed to subcategorize chronic abdominal pain based on clinical presentations namely those with isolated paroxysmal pain, pain with dyspepsia, pain with altered bowel pattern or abdo...

The Clinical Problem Functional abdominal pain syndrome (FAPS) is a state of chronic recurrent abdominal pain that is not due to structural, organic, or metabolic diseases, as far as can be detected by current routine clinical examinations [7]. Abdominal pain in FAPS is unrelated to provocation, exaggeration, or relief by everyday physiological stimuli such as eating, exercise, defecation, or m...

A 63 year old woman, presenting as an emergency provides an useful example of the difficulties in diagnosing acute appendicitis when faced with an atypical history. This patient underwent plain radiography, computed tomography, repeat biochemical investigations and finally an exploratory laparotomy before the diagnosis of acute appendicitis was made. The case was confounded by a highly mobile c...

A Hospital Assistant asked me to see a boy, aged 10, who for the previous four or five days had complained of pain in the left lung. He had had a temperature above 100? F. throughout and had been treated with fomentations applied over the abdomen but without effect. On examination, I found that the pain was mainly in the left hypochondrium and that there was slight tenderness on pressure. Nothi...