title: Recurrent abdominal pain: an update.
abstract: RAP is a broad descriptive term commonly used in pediatrics to define a heterogeneous group of patients who experience episodic attacks of abdominal pain over a period of at least 3 months. The majority of patients who seek medical attention for RAP have a functional disorder thought to be triggered by a motility or sensory disturbance of the GI tract provoked by a variety of physical and psychological stimuli. There are three distinct clinical presentations of functional abdominal pain in children and adolescents: periumbilical paroxysmal abdominal pain, dyspepsia, and irritable bowel. The medical history, physical examination, and selected laboratory, radiologic, and endoscopic evaluations allow a positive diagnosis of a functional disorder in each type of clinical presentation.
authors.affiliation: Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, USA.
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Boyle
mesh_terms: D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy; D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D016099:Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal; D005260:Female; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D012008:Recurrence