Ultrasonographic Findings in Children with Chronic Abdominal Pain
Author(s): Anjali Khotle, Richa Chaudhary
Abstract
Abdominal pain is one symptom for which children visit the pediatrician very often and it is a cause of concern for both the parents and the treating doctor and hence it has become a common practice to order a battery of investigations including an Ultrasonography (USG) which is usually not required. Hence this study will help to throw some light on the management of patients with CAP and also will help plan future larger studies in this field. Objectives: To study the Ultrasonographic findings in patients with Chronic Abdominal Pain. Methodology: During the study period of 1 year that is between September 2020 to August 2021 all the children visiting the pediatric OPD and admitted in the wards of pediatric department with the complaint of chronic abdominal pain fulfilling the inclusion criteria will be included in the study once their parents give consent for their participation. Patients’ history (including type, location, duration and progression of pain, medications, number of days of school abstinence due to pain, any stressors in the family or school, previous hospital admissions), whether fulfilling ROME IV Criteria, examination, and USG findings and other investigations if done will be documented in the predesigned proforma. The data thus obtained will be analyzed by using Stata 10 software. Conclusion: CAP is usually benign in children and investigations including USGs are often not required. The knowledge of USG findings in majority of children with CAP will help the treating doctors understand the disease better and prevent unnecessary investigations also it will help them to explain the treatment strategy and outcome of CAP to parents in a better way.