Constipation as cause of acute abdominal pain in children

Objective To evaluate the causes of acute abdominal pain in a large academic pediatric primary care population. Study design The complete charts of 962 children, >= 4 years old, who were seen for at least 1 health maintenance visit during a 6-month period, were reviewed retrospectively for complaints and cause of acute abdominal pain. Results We found that 9% of the 962 children had a visit for acute abdominal pain, with significantly more girls (12%) than boys (5%) having this complaint. Acute and chronic constipation were the most frequent causes of acute abdominal pain, occurring in 48% of subjects. A surgical cause was present in 2% of subjects. The cause for the acute abdominal pain remained unknown in 19% of subjects. We did not find significant differences in diagnoses in the primary care clinics versus emergency department. Conclusions We found that constipation was the most common cause of acute abdominal pain in children.