Abdominal pain and functional gastrointestinal disorders in children with celiac disease.

OBJECTIVE

To assess whether patients with celiac disease (CD) are more likely than controls to develop abdominal pain (AP) and AP-associated functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGID) in long-term follow-up.

STUDY DESIGN

In a retrospective study, data on children (3-22 years old) with CD diagnosed between 2000 and 2010 were obtained. Parents were contacted by telephone at least 6 months after the diagnosis of CD and invited to participate in the study. Consenting parents completed: (1) a telephone questionnaire on the presence of gastrointestinal symptoms; and (2) the parent report version of the Questionnaire on Pediatric Gastrointestinal Symptoms-Rome III for cases and selected controls.

RESULTS

Forty-nine cases (mean 11.3 years, 20 male participants) and 48 controls (mean 11.1 years, 24 male participants) were enrolled. Twelve children in the CD group (24.5%) and 7 children in the control group (14.6%) had AP at the time of the study (P = .3). Nine children in the CD group (18.3%) and 4 children in the control group (8.3%) met criteria for an AP-associated FGID according to the Questionnaire on Pediatric Gastrointestinal Symptoms-Rome III (P = .23).

CONCLUSION

It was found that children with CD and controls have a similar risk of AP and AP-FGIDs. Methodologic limitations prevent generalization of results, but large prospective studies should confirm the findings.