Recurrent abdominal pain in children at Siriral Hospital, etiology and relationship with lactase deficiency.

ABSTRACT

Fifty-seven children with recurrent abdominal pain at the Department of Pediatrics, Siriraj Hospital were studied. The children were of primary school-age (5-10 years). The ratio of boys to girls was 11.28. The pain suffered was, dull pain in 43.86, cramp-like in 26.32 percent. Pain was mostly in the epigastria and per umbilical regions. The specific cause was identified in just over a quarter of the children duodenitis and duodenal ulcer were the most common cause. The clinical signs and symptoms did not clearly distinguish the functional abdominal pain from specific organic cause. However dull pain is the major character of pain in the functional causes. Thirty out of the forty-one patients with functional disorders underwent lactose tolerance tests. Fifty-three percent of the 30 had lactose malabsorption and 6.6 percent were lactose intolerant compared to 56.6 percent of the control group which were not significantly different. After the period of follow up from 2 to 18 months all 57 children had recovered. These results suggest that lactose malabsorption is less likely a common cause of recurrent abdominal pain in Thai children.