Persistent abdominal pain may be caused by a whole range of different conditions, say French experts who call for more physician awareness to achieve early diagnosis and treatment so as to improve patient outcomes.
Benoit Coffin, MD, PhD, and Henri Duboc, MD, PhD, from Hôpital Louis Mourier, Colombes, France, conducted a literature review to identify rare and less well-known causes of persistent abdominal pain, identifying almost 50 across several categories.
“Some causes of persistent abdominal pain can be effectively treated using established approaches after a definitive diagnosis has been reached,” they wrote.
“Other causes are more complex and may benefit from a multidisciplinary approach involving gastroenterologists, pain specialists, allergists, immunologists, rheumatologists, psychologists, physiotherapists, dietitians, and primary care clinicians,” they wrote.
The research was published online in Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics.
Frequent and frustrating symptoms
Although there is “no commonly accepted definition” for persistent abdominal pain, the authors said it may be defined as “continuous or intermittent abdominal discomfort that persists for at least 6 months and fails to respond to conventional therapeutic approaches.”
They highlight that it is “frequently encountered” by physicians and has a prevalence of 22.9 per 1,000 person-years, regardless of age group, ethnicity, or geographical region, with many patients experiencing pain for more than 5 years.
The cause of persistent abdominal pain can be organic with a clear cause or functional, making diagnosis and management “challenging and frustrating for patients and physicians.”
“Clinicians not only need to recognize somatic abnormalities, but they must also perceive the patient’s cognitions and emotions related to the pain,” they added, suggesting that clinicians take time to “listen to the patient and perceive psychological factors.”
Dr. Coffin and Dr. Duboc write that the most common conditions associated with persistent abdominal pain are irritable bowel syndrome and functional dyspepsia, as well as inflammatory bowel disease, chronic pancreatitis, and gallstones.
To examine the diagnosis and management of its less well-known causes, the authors conducted a literature review, beginning with the diagnosis of persistent abdominal pain.