title: Systemic classification for a new diagnostic approach to acute abdominal pain in children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  With previous methods based on only age and location, there are many difficulties in identifying the etiology of acute abdominal pain in children. We sought to develop a new systematic classification of acute abdominal pain and to give some helps to physicians encountering difficulties in diagnoses.
  
  
  METHODS
  From March 2005 to May 2010, clinical data were collected retrospectively from 442 children hospitalized due to acute abdominal pain with no apparent underlying disease. According to the final diagnoses, diseases that caused acute abdominal pain were classified into nine groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The nine groups were group I "catastrophic surgical abdomen" (7 patients, 1.6%), group II "acute appendicitis and mesenteric lymphadenitis" (56 patients, 12.7%), group III "intestinal obstruction" (57 patients, 12.9%), group IV "viral and bacterial acute gastroenteritis" (90 patients, 20.4%), group V "peptic ulcer and gastroduodenitis" (66 patients, 14.9%), group VI "hepatobiliary and pancreatic disease" (14 patients, 3.2%), group VII "febrile viral illness and extraintestinal infection" (69 patients, 15.6%), group VIII "functional gastrointestinal disorder (acute manifestation)" (20 patients, 4.5%), and group IX "unclassified acute abdominal pain" (63 patients, 14.3%). Four patients were enrolled in two disease groups each.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients were distributed unevenly across the nine groups of acute abdominal pain. In particular, the "unclassified abdominal pain" only group was not uncommon. Considering a systemic classification for acute abdominal pain may be helpful in the diagnostic approach in children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Jeju National University School of Medicine, Jeju, Korea.
authors.forename: Ji Hoi
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Jeju National University School of Medicine, Jeju, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun Sik
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Jeju National University School of Medicine, Jeju, Korea.
authors.forename: Kyung Hee
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Jeju National University School of Medicine, Jeju, Korea.
authors.forename: Seung Hyo
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Jeju National University School of Medicine, Jeju, Korea.
authors.forename: Kyung-Sue
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Jeju National University School of Medicine, Jeju, Korea.
authors.forename: Mu Suk
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Jeju National University School of Medicine, Jeju, Korea.
authors.forename: In Ho
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Jeju National University School of Medicine, Jeju, Korea.
authors.forename: Young Sil
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Jeju National University School of Medicine, Jeju, Korea.
authors.forename: Ki-Soo
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Kang
keywords: Acute abdominal pain; Child; Classification