Etiology of Acute Abdominal Pain in Children Hospitalized in The General Pediatric Ward
Keywords:
pediatric patients, acute abdominal pain, acute appendicitis, acute gastroenteritisAbstract
Acute abdominal pain is a common problem in children. The etiologies are varied and range from benign, self-limiting conditions to life-threatening surgical conditions such as acute appendicitis. Patients with more severe symptoms and uncertain diagnosis usually require hospitalization and clinical observation. The aim of this retrospective descriptive study was to evaluate the etiologies of children aged 2-15 years old with acute abdominal pain of less than 7 days’ duration who were hospitalized in the general pediatric ward in Udon Thani hospital between January 1st, 2016 and December 31st, 2022. All patients who met the inclusion criteria were enrolled and data were collected from medical records. Frequency, percentage, mean, S.D., median, and interquartile range were used for descriptive analysis.
The 7 years data included 269 patients with mean age 8.0 years old, 51.3% male. The most common location of the pain was in the periumbilical region (37.2%). The most frequent etiology was acute gastroenteritis (53.2%), followed by constipation (17.1%), and abdominal pain with unknown etiology (13.0%). Acute appendicitis was found 8.9% of patients. Acute gastroenteritis was significantly more frequent in patients with abdominal pain of 1-2 days' duration than 3-6 days' duration (59.3% vs 38.8%, p=0.002), while constipation and abdominal pain with unknown etiology were significantly more frequent in those with 3-6 days' duration compared to 1-2 days' duration (27.5% vs 12.7%, p=0.003 and 20.0% vs 10.1%, p=0.027, respectively). Acute appendicitis was significantly more frequent in patients with right lower quadrant pain when compared to those with periumbilical pain (33.3% vs 13.0%, p=0.031).
In conclusion, this study showed that acute gastroenteritis was the most frequent etiology (53.2%) of children who were hospitalized due to acute abdominal pain. Acute gastroenteritis, constipation, and abdominal pain with unknown etiology were associated with pain duration, while acute appendicitis was associated with right lower quadrant pain.
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