Recurrent Abdominal Pain and Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency

Recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) is an often encountered complaint in children and adolescents. The evaluation of the child or adolescent with recurrent abdominal pain requires an understanding of the pathogenesis of abdominal pain, the most common causes of abdominal pain, and the typical patterns of presentation.

Children and adolescents frequently undergo esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) to evaluate complaint and recurrent abdominal pain is a frequently cited reason for endoscopy. This is a standard procedure where an endoscope is passed through the mouth, esophagus, stomach and into the first part of the small intestine. With the camera at the end of the endoscope, the endoscopist is able to see the gross appearance of the upper digestive tract. Small biopsy samples are collected from the small intestine, stomach and esophagus to evaluate for mucosal injury, irritation, infection or other anomalies that could be contributing to the patient's symptoms. This is helpful for evaluation of histological changes, but does not provide information about its function.

Pancreatic stimulation testing with secretagogue (secretin, cholecystokinin) administration, and direct pancreatic fluid collection is considered a gold standard to assess the exocrine pancreatic function. Indirect testing of pancreatic function such as with urine or stool has much lower sensitivity and specificity compared to direct pancreatic fluid collection.

This is a prospective study where patients undergoing investigative EGD will have endoscopic pancreatic function test (ePFT) with secretin.

There will be two groups:

The first group are patients that are undergoing EGD with ePFT for evaluation of suspected or established pancreatic insufficiency with symptoms such as failure to thrive or malabsorption. These patients are the ones that historically have had ePFT testing done to evaluate their pancreatic function.

The second group is all patients that are undergoing scheduled diagnostic EGD for other reasons that consent for pancreatic stimulation testing. These patients are usually undergoing EGD for a range of symptoms that frequently include recurrent abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhea, nausea and/or constipation. These patients do not typically have ePFT testing performed and is not usually thought to be part of the standard of care for this group.