title: Imaging and the child with abdominal pain.
abstract: Abdominal pain is a common presenting symptom in children. A substantial percent of unscheduled paediatric office visits and paediatric emergency room visits are due to abdominal pain. Children may present with an acute episode of pain or with chronic, recurrent pain. Only a small fraction of children presenting with abdominal pain will prove to have an organic cause necessitating interventional management. In this essay, a discussion of abdominal pain is presented, with particular emphasis on the role of radiologic imaging tests to investigate potential causes of abdominal pain. The more common and clinically significant causes of abdominal pain in a child will be discussed in greater detail.
authors.affiliation: Section of Paediatric Radiology, C. S. Mott Children's Hospital, Room F3503, University of Michigan Medical Center, 1500 East Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. pstrouse@umich.edu
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Strouse
mesh_terms: D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology; D000208:Acute Disease; D001064:Appendicitis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D045822:Intestinal Volvulus / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D007443:Intussusception / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D007669:Kidney Calculi / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D011704:Pyelonephritis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed