Related Experiment Videos
[Recurrent stomach complaints in children]
1Kliniken för barnsjukdomar, Tammerfors universitetssjukhus, Tammerfors universitet.
Insights
Recurrent gastro-intestinal complaints in children are common, with up to 50% having treatable causes like lactose intolerance or gastritis. Diagnosis and treatment, including dietary changes, can often be managed in outpatient clinics.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Gastroenterology
- Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders
Context:
- Gastro-intestinal complaints are a leading reason for pediatric medical consultations.
- Sophisticated diagnostic methods reveal treatable causes in up to 50% of cases.
Purpose:
- To review common causes, diagnostic approaches, and treatments for recurrent gastro-intestinal complaints in children.
- To highlight the role of dietary, pharmacological, and psychosomatic factors.
Summary:
- Common causes include lactose intolerance, gluten sensitivity, gastro-oesophageal reflux, and gastritis.
- Diagnosis can often be achieved through outpatient clinic investigations and history taking.
- Treatment strategies involve dietary elimination, prokinetic agents, antibiotics, and addressing psychosomatic mechanisms.
Impact:
- Provides a comprehensive overview for clinicians managing pediatric gastro-intestinal issues.
- Emphasizes the importance of identifying treatable organic and functional causes.
- Underscores the evolving understanding of psychosomatic influences on childhood gastric pain.
Abstract:
Next to headache recurrent gastro-intestinal complaints constitute the most common reason for medical consultation among daycare and school children. The use of more sophisticated examination methods has shown that in up to 50 per cent of cases the cause of the gastric complaints is a treatable disease or a functional anomaly of the gastro-intestinal tract. The commonest conditions are lactose intolerance, gluten sensitivity, gastro-oesophageal reflux, and gastritis. In some cases stomach pain is triggered by psychosomatic mechanisms. Depending upon the child's age, aetiological indications can sometimes be derived from history taking. In many cases the investigations can be made in the out-patient clinic. The cornerstones of treatment are various kinds of dietary elimination regimens, prokinetic agents, and antibiotics. Recently, the investigation of neuroendocrinological and neurophysiological processes related to psychosomatic causes of gastric complaints has once again become common.