Constipation likely cause in children.

• Position: Abdominal Pain - Brief article

The combination of acute and chronic constipation accounts for nearly half of all cases of abdominal pain in children, reports a study by the University of Iowa, Iowa City, suggesting that physicians should do a simple rectal examination for constipation when trying to determine the cause of abdominal pain in youngsters. Earlier research has shown that constipation can contribute to abdominal pain, but no specific recommendations for diagnosing this contributing factor were made, points out Vera Loening-Baucke, professor of pediatrics.

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"Constipation can be overlooked as the cause of severe or intermittent abdominal pain, as a reporting of symptoms alone does not always establish that a child has constipation. Our study helps to show that constipation frequently causes acute abdominal pain, and that a physician should not just ask the parent if the child is constipated because the parent may have not been able to see all the signs of this condition."

Constipation signs include fewer than three bowel movements or one or more episodes of stool incontinence per...