Recurrent abdominal pain

What is abdominal pain?

It is a pain located in the abdomen, although its cause is not always located in the abdomen and, sometimes, it is secondary to problems in another location.

Symptoms

The type of pain and the location within the abdomen are different depending on the cause of abdominal pain.

Most abdominal pain in children is of indeterminate cause, transitory, and trivial. That is, they cause discomfort in the child but have no impact on his health. This type of pain comes and goes suddenly, "like a cramp" (cramping pain). They are intermittent, with moments of absence of pain and they change location. If the child does not present other symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea, fever ... and we do not find any cause that justifies it, it is called nonspecific abdominal pain. In these cases, except in those moments when the belly hurts, the child is very well and carries out his daily activities normally: playing, watching television, running, sleeping.

Abdominal pains that are located at a certain point (fixed), that are continuous (there are no moments of improvement) and that associate fever, vomiting and abdominal swelling may have a more important cause and should always be evaluated by the Pediatrician.

Causes of abdominal pain

The most common causes of fever and abdominal pain in children are infections: gastroenteritis, tonsillitis, pneumonia, otitis or urine infection. During childhood, fever is often associated with abdominal pain regardless of the type of infection.

Gastroenteritis is one of the most common infections in childhood. Children may have fever, vomiting and / or diarrhea and cramping abdominal pain.

Other causes of abdominal pain are: acetone secondary to vomiting, gas, cough, shortness of breath, emotional conflicts at home or at school, menstruation, and drug side effects.

Recurrent abdominal pain

They are, as their name suggests, frequent episodes of abdominal pain in which the child hurts the whole gut (diffuse pain), with no apparent cause. It is typical between the ages of 4 and 14. The onset of pain is located in the center of the belly (around the navel) and it increases in intensity and becomes more diffuse.

It can appear daily or appear several times a week. It is not related to food or physical activity.

The pain can be so severe that it prevents your child from doing normal activities. It is usually a pain that does not wake up at night.

It is not usually accompanied by other symptoms such as diarrhea, vomiting or blood in the stool and its evolution in benign and, usually, does not need treatment.