Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy in recurrent abdominal pain of childhood.

Over a 2.5-year period, 82 consecutive children complaining of recurrent abdominal pain underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. Gastroscopy confirmed pathology in 48 of the children (58.5%). Four of the children, who also had undergone gastroscopy, had other diagnoses (lactose malabsorption, hydronephrosis, yersiniosis), and 30 of the children (36.6%) retained the initial diagnosis of recurrent abdominal pain syndrome. Gastritis was found in 48 of the children, 18 of whom (37.5%) had positive test results for Helicobacter pylori, based on histology and/or culture. Of 16 H. pylori-positive children tested, 12 (75%) also had an elevated concentration of IgG-class antibodies to H. pylori in their sera. Three of the children had duodenal ulcer disease, all of whom were H. pylori positive. Esophagitis was found in eight of the children with gastritis, all of whom were found to have gastroesophageal reflux. Our data suggest that among the children with recurrent abdominal pain syndrome, organic pathology is more common than was previously thought. Altogether 22% of the children with recurrent abdominal pain syndrome were infected with H. pylori.