General information
Abdominal pain is a very common complaint in children. The causes of abdominal pain in children are very varied and the symptom abdominal pain is often very unspecific. Since children often project a lot of pain, for example sore throat, into the abdomen as well, abdominal pain is often much more unspecific in young patients. In order to obtain a rough orientation of the main causes of abdominal pain in children, the causes are divided into their typical occurrence during the different age groups.
Abdominal pain according to age
In infancy, the first difficulty is to interpret the symptoms indicated by crying as abdominal pain. In the vast majority of cases, excessive air in the abdomen is the main cause of abdominal pain in these young years. However, some serious clinical pictures can also lead to the severe abdominal pain.
For example, a sudden intestinal engorgement can lead to very severe abdominal pain. It can also lead to so-called invaginations of the large intestine, which can also cause cramp-like pain in the abdominal area of the loin. Invaginations are invaginations of the large intestine that can occur for a limited period of time.
A short time later, the affected section of the intestine may already have unfolded again and no longer cause pain. Diagnosis is difficult, as it is necessary to wait until the invagination has occurred before making a diagnosis via ultrasound. In addition, infants may have numerous malformations of the gastrointestinal tract.
The gastro-intestinal junction may not be correctly positioned and may lead to sometimes massive discomfort. It can also lead to a narrowing at the transition between the stomach and the intestine. This so-called pyloric stenosis usually occurs in infancy and toddlers and, in addition to sometimes very severe abdominal pain, also causes gushing vomiting of food that has just been eaten.
Another relatively frequent cause of abdominal pain in infants/children is so-called coprolites. These are hardened remains of stool that can settle in the intestinal area and thus lead to complaints with every movement of the intestine. These coprolites can be seen and diagnosed by means of an ultrasound examination.
Treatment is usually with mild laxative measures. Invaginations usually have to be treated surgically after diagnosis to prevent frequent recurrence. The frequently occurring flatulence, which is also called flatulence, can be treated with flatulent, light herbal preparations.
Abdominal pain is often followed by appendicitis (inflammation of the appendix) – here mainly localised as a pulling pain on the right. Young patients are usually unable to lift their right leg or can only lift it incompletely and complain of severe to severe pain. The complaints are also often accompanied by a severely impaired general condition and nausea and vomiting.
Elevated temperatures of the child can also support the picture of a severe inflammation. Pressure on the right lower abdomen is presented as unbearable. In addition, severe pain on the right side is indicated when the left side of the abdomen is pressed in and released jerkily.
The pain is caused by vibrations of the peritoneum. While simple irritations of the appendix usually have to be treated rather wait-and-see, the acute inflammation of the appendix makes a quick surgical removal necessary even in children. Today, this is usually performed laparoscopically (keyhole surgery).
Pain in the middle section of the abdomen can have various causes. Food that is too spicy or too fatty can lead to pain in the middle abdomen, as can numerous psychosomatic causes. The most common psychosomatic cause of abdominal pain in children is fear of school.
Although the symptoms are not associated with problems at school, abdominal pain usually occurs shortly after weekends and in the morning before school. Often there are no obvious problems for the child at school, but the timing of the onset of the abdominal pain classically represents emotional tension in the child’s social environment. This is often followed by a visit to the doctor or an apology to school, which is then accompanied by immediate improvement of the symptoms.
The more often this evasive behaviour is carried out, the more severe the abdominal pain develops. However, before the diagnosis of school phobia is made, other organic causes that could be responsible for the abdominal pain must be excluded. Psychosomatic abdominal pain in children usually decreases in frequency and intensity with increasing age and usually disappears completely at puberty.
Helpful during the onset Chemical and herbal medications should be avoided in childhood, however, in order not to start a vicious circle of medication. If the psychosomatic abdominal pain persists or takes a violent course, a school psychological counselling centre should be consulted. – Relaxing exercises, such as
- Autogenic training or
- Yoga.
