Recurrent abdominal pain: an update.

RAP is a broad descriptive term commonly used in pediatrics to define a heterogeneous group of patients who experience episodic attacks of abdominal pain over a period of at least 3 months. The majority of patients who seek medical attention for RAP have a functional disorder thought to be triggered by a motility or sensory disturbance of the GI tract provoked by a variety of physical and psychological stimuli. There are three distinct clinical presentations of functional abdominal pain in children and adolescents: periumbilical paroxysmal abdominal pain, dyspepsia, and irritable bowel. The medical history, physical examination, and selected laboratory, radiologic, and endoscopic evaluations allow a positive diagnosis of a functional disorder in each type of clinical presentation.