Functional abdominal pain disorders in children: An update on treatment

(doi:10.24875/NGL.18000004)

Miguel Saps, Profesor de Pediatría, Jefatura División de Gastroenterología, Hepatología y Nutrición Pediátrica, Universidad de Miami-Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida
Shivani R. Gupta, Department of Pedatrics, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH. U.S.A

Functional abdominal pain disorders (FAPDs) are common in children. Children with FAPDs frequently miss school, social, and family activities. There is limited evidence on most of the interventions commonly used to treat this group of disorders, and no medications were yet approved by the FDA for the treatment of FAPDs in children. Randomized clinical trials have shown a beneficial effect of peppermint oil, trimebutine, amitriptyline, cyproheptadine, and certain strains of probiotics. Clinical trials have also shown the benefit of complementary psychosocial interventions such as hypnotherapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. In this article, we review the evidence for pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies for functional abdominal disorders in children.

Keywords: Abdominal pain. Probiotics. Hypnotherapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy. Antidepressants. Antispasmodics. Children.