Recurrent abdominal pain, and their meanings

Written By The HealthMeth Team - Updated On Tuesday, February 9, 2021 4:00 PM

Frequent abdominal pain

There is no doubt that most people have felt abdominal pain at least once in their lives, but if the feeling of abdominal pain is repeated more than three times separately during three consecutive months; At that time, it can be said that the patient suffers from recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) or chronic, [1] and there are two main patterns of recurrent abdominal pain; a functional pattern and a physical pattern. Functional abdominal pain, the cause of its occurrence is not completely known yet, and it constitutes 90% of the causes of abdominal pain, while physical abdominal pain constitutes 10% of the causesFrequent abdominal pain. It is worth noting that children are more likely to suffer from recurrent abdominal pain, especially between the ages of eight and fourteen, and more common among females, while only 2% of adults and the majority of them are women suffer from chronic or recurrent abdominal pain. [2]


Symptoms of frequent abdominal pain

Symptoms of recurrent abdominal pain differ from one patient to another, and even in the same patient, the nature of abdominal pain differs from time to time, and among these symptoms: [1]

  • The patient cried, especially if he was a child, and made the patient sweaty and dull.
  • Abdominal pain lasts from minutes to hours.
  • The pain may be sharp or dull.
  • The possibility that the pain is related to eating, and there may not be a relationship between the pain and eating.
  • It may be accompanied by vomiting, headache , or pain in other parts of the body, such as the arms and legs.
  • Feeling pain at any time of the day; Night or day.
  • Feeling the pain anywhere in the abdomen, and the location of the pain varies according to the cause.
  • Not feeling the usual hunger, but weight loss is often not associated with these pains.


There are some symptoms that require seeing a doctor immediately, namely: [2]

  • fever.
  • Vomiting blood, stool, or urine.
  • Difficulty swallowing.
  • Waking up from pain.
  • Vomiting or severe or frequent diarrhea .


As for the symptoms that require seeing a doctor within a few days to a week, they are: [2]

  • Loss of appetite and weight loss.
  • Flatulence and lower extremities.
  • Jaundice .


Causes of frequent abdominal pain

as we mentioned before; Recurrent abdominal pain can be divided into recurrent and functional abdominal pain and recurrent physical abdominal pain, [2] and their causes are as follows:


Causes of recurrent and functional abdominal pain

It is real pain that the patient feels, but it occurs without a physical cause, and is not related to the physical changes that occur to the person, such as bowel movement, menstruation , food intake, or medication, and the patient can suffer from it for more than six months. Despite the absence of a real reason for it, the psychological pressure a person is exposed to in his life, even in childhood; The beginning of school and an attempt to draw the attention of parents upon the birth of a brother to him, along with the genetic predisposition, the personality of the person and his affliction with mental illnesses such as depression, and social conditions in general would play an important role in the emergence of this type of pain. [2] This type of pain appears in certain aspects, including:

  • Functional abdominal pain : The patient suffers in this case of episodic abdominal or persistent pain that is not compatible with any disorder functional another affects channel digestive , and is diagnosed only after making sure there is no other problem caused pain by evaluation Medical and necessary tests. [3]
  • Syndrome pain functional abdominal: , that the nature of the syndrome is not well understood, but it can say that it is the syndrome in which pain occurs in the abdomen severely affects the individual 's daily activities as a result of verbiage and amplify the sense of pain; As the nerves become more responsive to simple pain and for a longer duration, the pain continues even after the cause of its cause is removed, and this is attributed to psychological factors such as depression and psychological pressures in the first place. [4]
  • Indigestion Career: , and includes the syndrome of pain after eating epigastric pain syndrome . As for pain after eating, The affected patient feels full quickly after eating normal-sized meals, and these symptoms recur several times a week, and the patient may suffer from excessive belching and swelling in the upper abdomen, and this may be accompanied by a feeling of nausea after eating meals. As for epigastric pain syndrome, The affected patient suffers from intermittent pain, or a burning feeling in the epigastric region located above the stomach, and the intensity of the pain is moderate, and the pain of this syndrome is related to food. As eating the bait causes painFor some sufferers and less for others, it is worth noting that the pain associated with this syndrome does not reduce with stool or gas. It must be noted that a person with postprandial pain syndrome may suffer from epigastric pain syndrome , and vice versa. [3]


The causes of recurrent physical abdominal pain

Among the physical disorders and diseases that can cause recurrent abdominal pain are the following:

  • Irritable Bowel Syndrome in Children : It is the most common cause of recurrent abdominal pain in children. The child may suffer from constipation most of the time, or diarrhea, or he may suffer from both together. The times of going to the toilet to defecate or the nature of the excreted stool changes , and usually the abdominal pain improves after defecation, but the patient may suffer from the feeling of not completing the stool after passing out, despite spending more time than his peers in the toilet. [3]
  • Irritable bowel syndrome in adults; [2] It is a common disorder in adults as well. [5]
  • Constipation. [2]
  • Lactose Intolerance [2]
  • Gastroesophgaeal reflux disease. [2]
  • Stomach irritation due to consuming spicy foods, fizzy drinks, aspirin, or other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. [2]
  • Disorders of the gallbladder sore gallbladder . [2]
  • Inflammatory bowel disease such as Crohn disease. [2]
  • Indigestion caused by a peptic ulcer and some medications. [2]
  • Hepatitis disorders, such as hepatitis. [2]
  • Parasitic infections, such as giardiasis, or what is called "beaver fever" . [2]

It is worth noting that cancers are a common cause of recurrent physical abdominal pain in adult adults. Such as stomach cancer, pancreatic cancer, colon cancer, ovarian cancer, and menopause worsens abdominal pain in women who suffer from any of the following: [2]

  • Irritable bowel syndrome.
  • Inflammatory bowel disease.
  • Endometriosis.


References

  1. ^ A b "Recurrent Abdominal Pain ( The RAP) - Topic Overview The " , the www.webmd.com , Retrieved 29-9-2017. Edited.
  2. ^ A b t w c h x d y t g o u r z i the Norton J. Greenberger, "Chronic Abdominal Pain And Recurring" , Www.msdmanuals.com , Retrieved 29-9-2017. Edited.
  3. ^ A b T. "Recurrent Abdominal Pain In Children" , Www.patient.info , Retrieved 29-9-2017. Edited.
  4. Norton J. Greenberger, "Chronic and Recurrent Abdominal Pain" , www.msdmanuals.com , Retrieved 9-30-2017 . Edited.
  5. "Irritable bowel syndrome" , www.mayoclinic.org , 31-7-2014, Retrieved 3-10-2017. Edited.