14-07-2025
Complaints of ‘stomach pain' by children require multidisciplinary approach, say doctors
Doctors at the JSS Medical College in Mysuru have suggested a multidisciplinary approach to addressing the complaints of 'stomach pain' by children even though physical illnesses of any kind have been ruled out by laboratory investigations.
The doctors, who carried out a study that was presented at the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry conference at NIMHANS in Bengaluru, found certain psychological causes for some complaints of stomach pain by children.
Though the study was confined to four children complaining of stomach pain despite showing no physical illness after undergoing laboratory investigations like diagnostic laparoscopy, endoscopy, and CT abdominal scan, paediatric surgeon Sudhamshu K.C. said some of the major reasons for children complaining of stomach pain without any underlying cause included depression followed by learning disability, bullying at school, issues with parents, and visual disturbances.
Out of every 100 children referred to the paediatric surgery department of the hospital, about 15 to 20% qualify for multidisciplinary approach involving doctors from psychiatry, paediatrics, and paediatric surgery departments, said Dr. Sudhamshu, who was part of the study.
Doctors said the children who complain about stomach pain without any physical illness will actually feel the psychosomatic pain arising out of psychological issues. Such children even refuse to go to school, missing out on their studies for extended period of months together.
Even though paediatric surgery was a referral department, Professor of Psychiatry, JSS Medical College, Mysuru, M. Kishor said a large number of parents were presenting themselves before the paediatric surgery department directly seeking surgical intervention for the stomach pain of their children.
Over the last year, about 12 to 14 children with stomach pain, who qualified for such a multidisciplinary approach, had been actively engaged with the departments of psychiatry and paediatrics, he said.
After working closely with the affected children and their parents, the team of doctors from the different departments had found that the causes among these children ranged from specific learning disabilities (dyslexia), depression, anxiety, mobile addiction, intellectual disabilities, issues in parents, including over-parenting, besides poor eating and sleeping habits, Dr. Kishor said.
'Through such an approach, we have been able to avoid a large number of unnecessary surgical interventions. Most of the children, who were under the collaborative care of psychiatry and paediatric department, are back in school,' he said.
