Managing chronic stomach pain in children
Hypnotherapy and talking therapy are the best treatments for long-term stomach pain in children, a new study suggests.
Experts said that more needs to be done to make these therapies available for children and to tackle the 'prejudice' linked to psychosocial treatments for abdominal pain.
It comes after a new study – the largest of its kind – saw researchers analyse various treatments for chronic stomach pain, including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), abdominal migraines and unexplained pain.
These conditions affect up to 12% of children and it is estimated they cause 'chronic, debilitating pain' in 300 million children around the world.
Promising results
The researchers examined 91 studies involving more than 7,200 children aged four to 18 years.
The studies assessed dietary treatments; medicines; probiotics; psychosocial treatments, including cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), also known as talking therapy; and hypnotherapy.
The team of academics, led by experts at the University of Central Lancashire in Britain, found that 'hypnotherapy and CBT show moderate certainty for treatment efficacy with clinically relevant effect sizes'.
Hypnotherapy is 68% more successful and CBT 35% more successful than taking no action, the university said.
ALSO READ: Is hypnotherapy a legitimate treatment method?
ALSO READ: Change your negative thoughts and behaviours with CBT
But 'no conclusions can be made about the other therapies and treatment success due to very low evidence certainty', the authors wrote in the journal Lancet Child and Adolescent Health .
Study lead author and consultant paediatrician Professor Dr Morris Gordon said: 'In Britain, almost one in 20 of every single children's appointment in a hospital outpatients will be explicitly for this problem, compared to all other problems.
'So it's a huge burden, not just on the NHS [National Health Service], but more importantly, for the kids, and of course, their families – they can't go to school, they can't function.
'You've got someone who was a high-flying gymnast or had a really good hobby – BMXing, and you name it – I've heard both of those examples in the last couple of years, and it's gone, it's done.'
He went on: 'We have found that hypnotherapy and CBT have the best evidence of providing successful treatment and to reduce pain.
'Other therapies have evidence of an effect, but due to systematic concerns with the findings, no conclusions can be drawn at the moment.'
A treatment guideline
Prof Gordon, who carried out the study with colleagues from the Netherlands and Florida in the United States, said that a new guideline for treating abdominal pain in children has been created off the back of the study.
'Currently, there no guidelines available for medical practitioners, so treatment methods are sporadic with no real evidence to underpin them,' he said.
'One GP [general practitioner] may prescribe probiotics, while another may prescribe pain medication, whereas others prefer a diet or a psychological treatment.
'This analysis provides, for the first time, an accurate way of grading the success rate of treatments.'
He added that there is often an expectation for 'medicalisation' and a 'prejudice' against psychosocial therapies.
'All that matters is the right outcome for the child and the family,' he said.
He went on: 'It is important to point out that we're not suggesting the condition is psychological because we don't know of a single definite cause in these cases.
'What we're suggesting is the best way to manage it, taking into consideration the frequency and severity of the pain, the way they impact a patient's life and the side effects of treatments.
'Think about it in the same way we don't take paracetamol to cure a cold, but to manage the pain.
'You can't stop the music playing, but you can turn down the volume.'
Meanwhile, he said that hypnotherapy and CBT are difficult to access to treat abdominal pain and called for more to be done to make them more widely available.
'So, what we've essentially got here is a top therapy in terms of safety, relatively easy to offer with good acceptability and tolerability. and yet, despite all of that, they're not being used,' he said.
Prof Dr Marc Benninga, a paediatric gastroenterologist from Emma Children's Hospital in Amsterdam who also worked on the study, called for more trials to assess the other treatment methods for abdominal pain in children.
'This study highlights the low quality of the scientific research that has been performed to date in a very common condition as abdominal pain,' he said. – PA Media/dpa
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Malay Mail
16-06-2025
- Malay Mail
My Haj Travelog 2: Suffer to be better, if not stronger — Hafiz Hassan
JUNE 16 — If my two nights at the King Abdul Aziz Hospital (KAAH) were uneventful, my first night after my discharge from KAAH was just the opposite. Constant coughing kept me awake and in pain from 11.30pm till 3.30am. I just couldn't wait for the morning prayer, after which I could take the antibiotics for the pneumonia. I wondered why I wasn't prescribed with cough medication. Muslims visit the Grand Mosque in the Saudi holy city of Mecca June 8, 2025, at the end of the annual Haj pilgrimage. — AFP pic After the antibiotics and much needed rest, I searched the internet for information on pneumonia. The British National Health System (NHS) website advises the 'Dos' and 'Don'ts' as follows: Do: rest until you feel better — try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people if you have a high temperature or do not feel well enough to do normal activities drink plenty of fluids take paracetamol or ibuprofen to help with pain or a high temperature cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze put used tissues in the bin as quickly as possible wash your hands regularly with water and soap Don't: do not take cough medicine — coughing helps your body get rid of the infection do not smoke The first 'Don't' explains why there was no cough medicine. Coughing is part of the healing. It's painful, but necessary. You have to suffer to be better, if not stronger. 'Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars. Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet,' philosopher Kahlil Gibran was quoted as saying. 'Indeed, the patient will be given their reward without account.' (Al Quran, 39:10) The above verse assures me that those who endure patiently, facing trials and tribulations with steadfastness, will be rewarded immensely by Allah SWT, without any limit or measure. * This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
Malaysian Reserve
09-06-2025
- Malaysian Reserve
EPF weighs RM8b sale of UK private hospitals
Healthcare property has seen a flurry of interest this year as investors seek out alternative assets with long-term indexed-linked leases MALAYSIA'S Employees Provident Fund (EPF) is preparing to sell a portfolio of UK private hospitals that are valued at about £1.4 billion (RM8.03 billion). The fund has appointed broker Knight Frank to offer the 12 properties for sale, people with knowledge of the process said. The hospitals, which an EPF-led consortium bought for about £700 million in 2013, are operated by Spire Healthcare Group plc, the people said, asking not to be identified as the process is private. Representatives for EPF and Knight Frank declined to comment. Healthcare property has seen a flurry of interest this year as investors seek out alternative assets with long-term indexed-linked leases. KKR & Co is vying with Primary Health Properties plc to buy Assura plc, a UK landlord that mostly owns doctor surgeries as well as a portfolio of private hospitals that it bought for £500 million last year. Aedifica SA agreed on June 3 to buy rival Cofinimmo in a deal that creates a healthcare REIT with a combined gross asset value of more than €12 billion (RM58.04 billion). The use of private healthcare in the UK has grown as the country's National Health Service (NHS) struggles to bring down waiting lists that were swollen during the pandemic. A record 4.7 million had private health insurance through their employer in 2023, according to data compiled by the Association of British Insurers last year. The NHS also uses private hospitals to carry out procedures. The state-backed healthcare provider spent £2.1 billion in private hospitals last year, according to a report by LaingBuisson. It spent a further £1.5 billion at private clinics. The UK government announced earlier this year that the NHS would use private healthcare to carry out additional appointments, scans and operations in order to reduce waiting times. — Bloomberg This article first appeared in The Malaysian Reserve weekly print edition
Malaysian Reserve
05-06-2025
- Malaysian Reserve
EPF weighs £1.4b sale of UK private hospitals
MALAYSIA'S Employees Provident Fund (EPF) is preparing to sell a portfolio of UK private hospitals that are valued at about £1.4 billion (US$1.9 billion or RM8.06 billion). The fund has appointed broker Knight Frank to offer the 12 properties for sale, people with knowledge of the process said. The hospitals, which an EPF-led consortium bought for about £700 million in 2013, are operated by Spire Healthcare Group plc, the people said, asking not to be identified as the process is private. Representatives for EPF and Knight Frank declined to comment. Healthcare property has seen a flurry of interest this year as investors seek out alternative assets with long-term indexed-linked leases. KKR & Co is vying with Primary Health Properties plc to buy Assura plc, a UK landlord that mostly owns doctor surgeries as well as a portfolio of private hospitals that it bought for £500 million last year. Aedifica SA agreed Tuesday to buy rival Cofinimmo in a deal that creates a healthcare REIT with a combined gross asset value of more than €12 billion (US$13.7 billion or RM58.09 billion). The use of private healthcare in the UK has grown as the country's National Health Service (NHS) struggles to bring down waiting lists that were swollen during the pandemic. A record 4.7 million had private health insurance through their employer in 2023, according to data compiled by the Association of British Insurers last year. The NHS also uses private hospitals to carry out procedures. The state-backed healthcare provider spent £2.1 billion in private hospitals last year, according to a report by LaingBuisson. It spent a further £1.5 billion at private clinics. The UK government announced earlier this year that the NHS would use private healthcare to carry out additional appointments, scans and operations in order to reduce waiting times. –BLOOMBERG
