Red flags in children with chronic abdominal pain and Crohn's disease-a single center experience.
OBJECTIVE
To compare history and symptoms at initial presentation of patients with chronic abdominal pain (CAP) and Crohn's disease (CD). Red flags are used to help determine which patients with CAP are likely to have an underlying disease such as CD. However, red flags have not been validated and pediatric studies are lacking.


METHODS
Patients seen in the outpatient Pediatric Gastroenterology Clinic at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin between 2005 and 2008 prospectively completed a demographic, history, and symptom questionnaire. Patients with abdominal pain for at least 1 month and no evidence of organic disease were compared with patients diagnosed with CD confirmed by mucosal biopsies.


RESULTS
Data were collected on 606 patients (128 with CD and 478 with functional gastrointestinal disorders). Patients with functional gastrointestinal disorders had more stressors (P < .001), were more likely to have a positive family history of irritable bowel syndrome, reflux, or constipation (P < .05), were more likely to have vomiting but less likely to have hematochezia, weight loss, and problems gaining weight (P < .05); wake from sleep and joint pain were no different between groups. Anemia, hematochezia, and weight loss were most predictive of CD (cumulative sensitivity of 94%).


CONCLUSIONS
The presence of anemia, hematochezia, and weight loss help identify patients with CAP who require further work-up and referral to a pediatric gastroenterologist. Furthermore, waking from sleep or joint pain occurred similarly between groups and should not be considered as "red flags."
Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Department of Pediatrics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA.
Khalil
K
El-Chammas
Angela
A
Majeskie
Pippa
P
Simpson
Manu
M
Sood
Adrian
A
Miranda
D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000175:diagnosis*; D000293:Adolescent; D000740:Anemia / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001706:Biopsy / Q000379:methods; D002648:Child; D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D005762:Gastroenterology / Q000379:methods; D006471:Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009092:Mucous Membrane / Q000473:pathology; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000379:methods; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D015431:Weight Loss