What may increase your child's risk for problems from abdominal pain?

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What may increase your child's risk for problems from abdominal pain?

Many conditions, medicines, and diseases interfere with the ability to heal or fight infection. Your child may be at risk for a more serious problem from his or her symptoms if he or she has any of the following. Be sure to tell your child's health professional.

Conditions

• A newborn or is less than 3 months old. Newborns younger than 3 months of age have a greater risk for developing dehydration than older infants and children.
• Babies born prematurely. This risk continues until the child is 6 months older than when he or she was expected to be born.
• Abnormally slow growth and development
• A personal or family history of migraine headache
• Previous abdominal surgery
• A structural problem of the digestive tract, including:
  • Intussusception
  • Malrotation
  • Hirschsprung's disease
• Travel outside of native country

Medicines

• Corticosteroid treatment, such as prednisone
• Medicines to support organ transplant
• Medicines used to treat cancer (chemotherapy)
• Radiation therapy

Diseases

• Cancer
• Diabetes
• Gallbladder disease
• Heart defects
• Hepatitis
• Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection
• Inguinal hernia
• Inflammatory bowel disease, such as Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis
• Kidney disease
• Malabsorption syndromes, such as celiac disease or cystic fibrosis
• Pancreatitis
• Previous gastrointestinal bleeding caused by:
  • Bleeding ulcers (peptic ulcer disease)
  • Inflammation of the stomach lining (gastritis)
• Sickle cell disease
• Thyroid or parathyroid disease
• Urinary tract infections

Credits

Last updated:	February 16, 2007
Author:	Jan Nissl, RN, BS
Reviewed By:	Michael J. Sexton, MD - Pediatrics, Emmett Francoeur, MDCM, CSPQ, FRCPC - Pediatrics
Editors:	Susan Van Houten, RN, BSN, MBA, Tracy Landauer