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Laparoscopy in the Management of Children with Chronic Recurrent Abdominal Pain

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the results of diagnostic laparoscopy in children with chronic recurrent abdominal pain. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Thirteen children with chronic recurrent abdominal pain were subjected to diagnostic laparoscopy. Ages varied fro...

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Autores principales: Stringel, Gustavo, Berezin, Stuart H., Bostwick, Howard E., Halata, Michael S.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons 1999
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3113158/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10527334
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author Stringel, Gustavo
Berezin, Stuart H.
Bostwick, Howard E.
Halata, Michael S.
author_facet Stringel, Gustavo
Berezin, Stuart H.
Bostwick, Howard E.
Halata, Michael S.
author_sort Stringel, Gustavo
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the results of diagnostic laparoscopy in children with chronic recurrent abdominal pain. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Thirteen children with chronic recurrent abdominal pain were subjected to diagnostic laparoscopy. Ages varied from 10 to 17 years. There were six males and seven females. Abdominal pain was present from 3 weeks to 12 months (mean, 2 months). Extensive laboratory and imaging studies did not contribute to the diagnosis. In all patients, the pain was disabling and severe enough to warrant repeated visits to the pediatrician, emergency room visits, or hospital admissions, as well as absence from school. RESULTS: All children recovered uneventfully. Laparoscopic findings that identified the cause of abdominal pain were obtained in 12 of 13 patients. Laparoscopic appendectomy was done in all patients. There were no operative complications. One child presented three months later with incomplete small bowel obstruction, which resolved with conservative management. There were no other postoperative complications. Follow-up varied from six months to three years. Abdominal pain resolved in ten patients. One patient presented eight months later with biliary dyskinesia. She improved following laparoscopic cholecystectomy and later on sphincterotomy, but her pain has not yet completely resolved. One patient presented six months later with abdominal pain secondary to intestinal adhesions. Her pain completely resolved after laparoscopic lysis of adhesions. A third patient who developed lower abdominal pain six months after laparoscopy improved with conservative management and antibiotics for pelvic inflammatory disease. CONCLUSIONS: Diagnostic laparoscopy is a valuable procedure in the management of children with chronic recurrent abdominal pain. In the present study, laparoscopic examination revealed the cause of abdominal pain in most patients, and this pain resolved in most cases. Based on our experience, we recommend diagnostic laparoscopy early in the course of debilitating chronic recurrent abdominal pain in children. Appendectomy should be done when no other significant cause of abdominal pain has been identified, even if the appendix looks normal.
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spelling pubmed-31131582011-07-12 Laparoscopy in the Management of Children with Chronic Recurrent Abdominal Pain Stringel, Gustavo Berezin, Stuart H. Bostwick, Howard E. Halata, Michael S. JSLS Scientific Papers BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the results of diagnostic laparoscopy in children with chronic recurrent abdominal pain. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Thirteen children with chronic recurrent abdominal pain were subjected to diagnostic laparoscopy. Ages varied from 10 to 17 years. There were six males and seven females. Abdominal pain was present from 3 weeks to 12 months (mean, 2 months). Extensive laboratory and imaging studies did not contribute to the diagnosis. In all patients, the pain was disabling and severe enough to warrant repeated visits to the pediatrician, emergency room visits, or hospital admissions, as well as absence from school. RESULTS: All children recovered uneventfully. Laparoscopic findings that identified the cause of abdominal pain were obtained in 12 of 13 patients. Laparoscopic appendectomy was done in all patients. There were no operative complications. One child presented three months later with incomplete small bowel obstruction, which resolved with conservative management. There were no other postoperative complications. Follow-up varied from six months to three years. Abdominal pain resolved in ten patients. One patient presented eight months later with biliary dyskinesia. She improved following laparoscopic cholecystectomy and later on sphincterotomy, but her pain has not yet completely resolved. One patient presented six months later with abdominal pain secondary to intestinal adhesions. Her pain completely resolved after laparoscopic lysis of adhesions. A third patient who developed lower abdominal pain six months after laparoscopy improved with conservative management and antibiotics for pelvic inflammatory disease. CONCLUSIONS: Diagnostic laparoscopy is a valuable procedure in the management of children with chronic recurrent abdominal pain. In the present study, laparoscopic examination revealed the cause of abdominal pain in most patients, and this pain resolved in most cases. Based on our experience, we recommend diagnostic laparoscopy early in the course of debilitating chronic recurrent abdominal pain in children. Appendectomy should be done when no other significant cause of abdominal pain has been identified, even if the appendix looks normal. Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons 1999 /pmc/articles/PMC3113158/ /pubmed/10527334 Text en © 1999 by JSLS, Journal of the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/), which permits for noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not altered in any way.
spellingShingle Scientific Papers
Stringel, Gustavo
Berezin, Stuart H.
Bostwick, Howard E.
Halata, Michael S.
Laparoscopy in the Management of Children with Chronic Recurrent Abdominal Pain
title Laparoscopy in the Management of Children with Chronic Recurrent Abdominal Pain
title_full Laparoscopy in the Management of Children with Chronic Recurrent Abdominal Pain
title_fullStr Laparoscopy in the Management of Children with Chronic Recurrent Abdominal Pain
title_full_unstemmed Laparoscopy in the Management of Children with Chronic Recurrent Abdominal Pain
title_short Laparoscopy in the Management of Children with Chronic Recurrent Abdominal Pain
title_sort laparoscopy in the management of children with chronic recurrent abdominal pain
topic Scientific Papers
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3113158/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10527334
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