Acute abdominal pain in children: a 25 year comparison.

In the years 1967 and 1992, 649 children were admitted to the Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital (RACH) as an emergency, with abdominal pain. The aims of this study were to estimate the change in the incidence of appendicitis and patterns of surgical admission between these years. Although the proportion of the childhood population requiring admission showed a small increase over the 25 year period, the pattern of admission changed significantly. While the overall incidence of appendicitis and the number of appendicectomies has fallen, a paradoxical increase is seen in those over 10 years of age. An increase in non-specific abdominal pain was seen which was similar in both sexes. Over the period of study, the risk of proceeding to surgery has fallen by 36%.