Functional Bowel Disturbances in Childhood

Children or their advocates may seek medical attention for a number of functional gastrointestinal disorders. Most functional disorders of childhood are relatively transient, and specific for a particular stage of development. Several are common conditions, frequently managed successfully by practicing pediatricians and only occasionally requiring more extensive evaluations and interventions by the pediatric gastroenterologist. These conditions include infantile colic, chronic nonspecific diarrhea of infancy, and recurrent abdominal pain of childhood. Two other conditions—constipation and gastroesophageal reflux—are found in adults, but require a different diagnostic approach and treatment for children. One functional disorder is serious but rare: chronic intestinal pseudoobstruction. In common, all of the conditions to be discussed (with the possible exception of infantile colic) are considered to be related to disturbances in gastrointestinal motility.