[Is recurrent abdominal pain in children a symptom of hyperreactivity disorder?]

Suggestions in the literature about a possible role of hypersensitivity in children with recurrent abdominal pain induced an open controlled investigation in twenty children with recurrent abdominal pain and in twenty healthy children. The purpose was to look for differences in the numbers of hypersensitivity markers in pain and control children. Hypersensitivity markers were defined in four areas: familial disposition to atopic disease, atopic disease in the child's history, atopic disease disclosed at a clinical examination, and elevated levels of blood eosinophils and serum immunoglobulin E antibodies to selected inhalant allergens and food allergens. In no child was abdominal pain provoked by specific food intake. The total number of markers in the pain children was 21, and in the control children 31. In spite of the small material it thus seems unlikely that hypersensitivity plays an influential part in the etiology of children's recurrent abdominal pain.