From Children’s Mercy Kansas City, Kansas City, MO.
Abstract
- Objective: To review functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) in children, with an emphasis on evidence-based diagnostic and treatment approaches.
- Methods: Review of the literature.
- Results: Chronic or recurrent abdominal pain is a common condition in children. No clinical practice guidelines currently exist for pediatric functional abdominal pain broadly or FGIDs more specifically. The Rome classification system includes several discrete diagnostic entities that are diagnosed based on symptom criteria in the absence of red flags. The prevailing biopsychosocial model of pediatric functional abdominal pain suggests that intervening to address biological factors, while providing coping skills and environmental supports to encourage functioning, offers the greatest likelihood of positive treatment outcomes and decreased disability.
- Conclusion: Simultaneously treating all contributors to pain maintenance in FGIDs offers the greatest promise in effectively breaking the pain cycle.