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Review
. 2021 Aug 6:12:373-393.
doi: 10.2147/PHMT.S287719. eCollection 2021.

An Update on the Assessment and Management of Pediatric Abdominal Pain

Craig Friesen  1 , Jennifer M Colombo  1 , Amanda Deacy  1 , Jennifer V Schurman  1
Affiliations
Review

An Update on the Assessment and Management of Pediatric Abdominal Pain

Craig Friesen et al. Pediatric Health Med Ther. .

Abstract

Chronic abdominal pain is very common in children and adolescent and results in high personal and social costs. Most youth with chronic abdominal pain fulfill criteria for a functional abdominal pain disorder (FAPD) as defined by Rome criteria. These are complex conditions with a wide array of biological, psychological, and social factors contributing to the experience of pain. The purpose of the current review is to provide an overview of the pathophysiology of FAPDs and an up-to-date summary of the literature related to FAPDs in children and adolescents, with additional focus on several areas (eg, diet and probiotics) where patients and families frequently have questions or implement self-directed care. We also provide an approach to the assessment and treatment of pediatric FAPDs focusing on the robust literature regarding psychological interventions and much sparser literature regarding medication treatment.

Keywords: abdominal pain; biopsychosocial model; functional abdominal pain disorders; functional dyspepsia; irritable bowel syndrome.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Overview of factors involved in the pathophysiology of functional abdominal pain disorders. Central to this process are four interacting systems with a variety of factors which interact with these systems and in some instances, with each other.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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