Anjum Saeed, Aftab Anwar, Muhammad Arshad, Asaad Assiri, Huma Arshad Cheema.
Frequency of Celiac Disease Associated with Recurrent Abdominal Pain in Saudi Children.
Pak Paed J Jan ;46(1):31-6.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the frequency of celiac disease (CD) among children who presented to a private tertiary care hospital with recurrent abdominal pain. Study Design: Retrospective, cross sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of pediatrics, Dr. Suleman Al-Habib Medical Center Riyadh, KSA between the period of 2015 to 2018. Material and Methods: Confirmed celiac disease cases according to the ESPGHAN criteria were enrolled in this study and reviewed for recurrent abdominal pain. The patient`s demographic data, clinical characteristics, medical treatments received, and investigations were recorded and analyzed. Results: A total of 267 children with recurrent abdominal pain were seen over the 4-year period. Sixteen (5.9%) children met the criteria for CD on serological analyses and 14 patients were confirmed on small bowel biopsies. The mean (SD) age was 8.25 +- 2.2 years (range: 3-18 years). The group comprised more girls than boys with a ratio of 1.8:1. All of the children`s primary complaints were recurrent abdominal pain of variable durations that fulfilled the Rome IV criteria. Using the modified Marsh criteria, 12 patients had grade 3c and two patients had grade 3b celiac disease. Conclusions: Celiac disease was not an uncommon diagnosis among the children who presented with recurrent abdominal pain in this study. CD should be included with other organic causes of recurrent abdominal pain in differential diagnoses.

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