What is functional abdominal pain?
Functional abdominal pain is a diagnosis that is part of the profile of some functional gastrointestinal (GI) disorders. Functional gastrointestinal disorders are disorders where there is a malfunction in the normal activities of the GI tract, but there are no structural abnormalities to explain the malfunction. There are no abnormal tests or x-rays or other images that explain the pain. Even though there are no tests to definitively diagnose it, functional abdominal pain is a real, legitimate diagnosis and is not “all in your head.” The disorder is more about patient symptoms and patient experience, not about structural or anatomical issues within the gut. The gut is not inflamed or infected, it looks normal. The issue is the gut is not communicating signals properly, resulting in chronic abdominal pain.
The Rome Foundation is an organization that helps classify functional GI disorders. According to the latest criteria which is known as Rome IV, there are 33 adult and 20 pediatric functional disorders. The most common functional gastrointestinal disorder that affects teens is functional abdominal pain associated with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).
Other Names For Functional Abdominal Pain:
Recurrent Abdominal Pain
Visceral Hypersensitivity
Chronic Abdominal Pain
Non-Organic Abdominal Pain
Non-Specific Abdominal Pain
Rome IV criteria for IBSAt least 8 weeks of chronic abdominal pain, at least 4 times per month and include all the following: Episodic or continuous abdominal pain that does not occur solely during physiological events such as eating and menses Insufficient criteria for other functional GI disorders including irritable bowel syndrome, functional dyspepsia or abdominal migraine After appropriate evaluation, the abdominal pain cannot be fully explained by another medical condition |