Functional Abdominal Pain in Children

Functional abdominal pain (FAP) is one of the most common pain syndromes in childhood and is a functional gastrointestinal disorder (FGID). Recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) is characterized by three or more episodes of abdominal pain that occurover at least 3 months and are severe enough to interfere with activities. It may be caused by many conditions, including inflammatory bowel disease, peptic ulcer, pancreatitis or, functional abdominal pain. The most common clinical manifestation is periumbilical pain related to autonomic and functional symptoms like nausea, vomiting, pallor and other painful conditions like headache and limb pains. RAP requires accurate diagnostic tests to rule out organic causes of pain based on ‘red flag’ sign. Furthermore, to diagnose and classify functional abdominal pain, Rome III criteria were published and updated with multiple discussions of FGIDs. Conventional interventions for RAP include reassurance and general advice, symptom-based pharmacological therapies, and psychological and behavioral treatments. But further research should be conducted to advance our understanding of the multiple factors involved in the pathogenesis of this group of conditions and to provide evidence for its therapeutic benefit. (Korean J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr 2011; 14: 222∼231)