Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori in children with recurrent abdominal pain

Introduction: Recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) in children is defined as at least three episodes of abdominal pain during three month period and severe enough to affect their activities. It is frequent diagnostic problem faced by Pediatricians. Helicobacter pylori (HP) is a pathogen of human gastric mucosa and is considered to be one of the major cause of RAP. The prevalence of HP infection increases with age. The study is to determine the prevalance of HP seropositivity, and the cause of RAP in children aged between 5-16 yrs. Methods: It was a prospective observational study conducted in department of child health, Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Maharajgunj, Kathmandu. A total of 60 patients of aged between 5-16 years diagnosed with RAP were enrolled. Detailed history , physical examination and relevant laboratory investigations including USG abdomen and HP antibody Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay( ELISA) were performed. Results: The prevalence of H Pylori seropositivity in patient with RAP was found to be 16.7%. Among the total 60 patients enrolled in this study with RAP,35 patients (58.34%) the cause was unknown. Conclusion: In majority of patients with RAP, the cause was not found (58.3%) and the organic causes were found in 38.41% of the patients. The most common cause of organic origin was Hpylori infection(16.7%).