Sphincter of Oddi dysfunction in children with recurrent abdominal pain: 5‐year follow‐up after endoscopic sphincterotomy

Abstract

Sphincter of Oddi (SO) dysfunction has not been reported as a cause of recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) in children. We present a 5-year follow-up of a group of children with RAP and manometry proven SO dysfunction. Retrospective chart review of children who underwent SO manometry and endoscopic sphincterotomy (ES) for recurrent abdominal pain. Long-term follow-up was obtained by telephone survey. Eleven of the 12 children had abdominal pain; one had reproducible postprandial discomfort. Five children localized the pain to the upper abdomen. The same number of children had associated nausea or vomiting. On hepatobiliary scintigraphy study, three children had SO dysfunction type curve, four had low ejection fraction and nine had reproduction of symptoms on cholecystokinin (CCK) infusion. SO manometry revealed elevated pressure in 11 children. The remaining child had paradoxical contraction of the SO. On short-term follow-up, eight children had resolution of symptoms after ES, three did not respond and one had recurrence of symptom in 6 months. Children symptomatic for less than 1 year were more likely to respond to ES (P < 0.01). All children with upper abdominal pain with nausea and/or vomiting, postprandial pain and SO type scintiscan curve responded to ES. On long-term follow-up, seven of the eight responders to ES remained symptom free, one recurred with irritable bowel syndrome-like symptoms. One child with recurrent symptoms had resolution after cholecystectomy and another non-responder improved after an appendectomy. SO dysfunction is an uncommon but treatable cause of RAP in children. Awareness of this condition may help a segment of children with RAP.