Recurrent Childhood Abdominal Pain

Differential Diagnosis

Common Diagnoses

Occasional Diagnoses

Rare Diagnoses

  • Parasitic Infestation of the Gut
  • Food Allergy
  • Sickle-Cell Disease
  • Tuberculosis (TB)
  • Hirschsprung’s Disease
  • Temporal Lobe Epilepsy
  • Pica

Ready Reckoner

Key distinguishing features of the most common diagnoses

Recurrent Viral IllnessAnxiety/ DepressionRecurrent UTIConstipationGastritis/ GORD
School/Home StressNoYesNoNoNo
Related to EatingNoNoNoPossiblePossible
DiarrhoeaPossiblePossibleNoPossibleNo
FeverYesNoYesNoNo
Abnormal UrinalysisPossibleNoYesNoNo

Possible Investigations

Likely:Urinalysis, MSU.

Possible:FBC, blood film, ESR/CRP, anti-endomysial and anti-gliadin antibodies.

Small Print:Faecal calprotectin, plain abdominal X-ray, abdominal ultrasound, further hospital-based investigations (after referral).

  • Urinalysis and MSU: Urinalysis will reveal evidence of a UTI, which will be confirmed with an MSU for microscopy and culture. Urinalysis will also reveal glucose in diabetes and possible haematuria in Henoch–Schönlein purpura.
  • FBC: Hb may be reduced in any chronic disorder; leucocytosis in bacterial infection; eosinophilia in parasitic infestation or genuine food allergy. Blood film may show sickling. Raised ESR/CRP suggests organic disease.
  • Anti-endomysial and anti-gliadin antibodies: A positive result suggests coeliac disease.
  • Faecal calprotectin: If Crohn’s suspected.
  • Ultrasound: Non-invasive first line investigation of renal tract. Other investigation for confirmed UTI will be arranged by the paediatrician.
  • Further hospital-based investigations: If there is a high suspicion of organic disease, e.g. endoscopy for DU, barium meal and follow-through for Crohn’s disease.

Top Tips

  • The majority of children with recurrent abdominal pain will not have organic pathology – take the problem seriously and assess carefully, but avoid reinforcing worries with unnecessary investigation or referral.
  • Explore the parents’ concerns – a child’s anxiety may be fed by parents unnecessarily worrying about sinister and unlikely diagnoses.
  • Talk to children alone – this may reveal relevant problems at home or school which they would not have been able to admit in front of parents.
  • If recurrent UTI is a possibility, provide the parents with the necessary bottle and lab form so that an MSU can be taken during the next episode of pain.
  • Infants with perceived abdominal pain are often taken to various doctors and/or A&E. They may well end up with diagnoses of GORD, cow’s milk protein intolerance, infant colic or some combination of these. It may take trials of treatment to ease the problem (which is likely to resolve on its own given time anyway). But if the infant is otherwise unwell or not thriving, it should be referred promptly for a paediatric opinion.

Red Flags

  • Organic disease is suggested by pain distant from the umbilicus which wakes the child and which is associated with loss of appetite or weight, or a change in bowel habit.
  • Beware the unlikely event of an acute cause for the pain supervening, e.g. appendicitis, torsion of the testis – ensure that parents know that a different, acute pain should not be dismissed as ‘the same old problem’, but should be presented urgently.
  • Children proven to have a UTI should be managed according to NICE guidelines.
  • Avoid colluding in parental somatisation and overlooking the existence of family dysfunction or other causes of unhappiness.
  • Don’t forget the rare possibility of sickling in the appropriate ethnic groups.

Published: 1st August 2022 Updated: 10th April 2024

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Based on the best-selling book Symptom Sorter, Nursing in Practice Reference is designed to help nurses working in primary and community care make sense of patient presentations. Written by GPs and adapted by nurses, it covers the vast majority of symptoms seen in primary care to inform different nursing disciplines with a range of responsibilities. Each symptom is organised into common, occasional or rare differentials, with distinguishing features, possible investigations and key points. It also provides guides on managing more than 350 conditions. The perspective is very much grass roots primary care, informed by the latest evidence and guidance.

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Nursing in Practice Reference is based on the best-selling book Symptom Sorter. The experts behind Nursing in Practice Reference are Marilyn Eveleigh who is Nursing in Practice’s editorial advisor and a primary care nurse in East Sussex, Dr Keith Hopcroft who is the co-author of Symptom Sorter, a GP in Essex and Pulse editorial advisor and Dr Poppy Freeman, a GP in Camden and also a clinical advisor to Pulse.