Water Load Test in Childhood Functional Abdominal Pain: No Relation to Food Intake and Nutritional Status

Assessing impaired gastric accommodation in children with functional constipation using the water load test

BACKGROUND

This study aimed to evaluate gastric accommodation in pediatric patients with functional constipation using the water load test.

METHOD

This was a cross-sectional case-control study. Herein, the water load test results of children aged >4 years with functional constipation referred to a Pediatric Gastroenterology Outpatient Clinic (functional constipation group) were compared with those of a control group (without functional constipation or chronic abdominal pain) recruited from two public schools. Clinical manifestations outlined in the Rome IV criteria were used to diagnose functional constipation. Water load tests were performed after 3 h of fasting. For the test, the participants were asked to drink as much water as possible in 3 min.

KEY RESULTS

A total of 36 patients and 77 students were included in the functional constipation and control groups, respectively. There was no significant difference in age between the groups (8.6 ± 2.3 years and 8.8 ± 1.8 years in the functional constipation and control groups, respectively). The water load test showed intake volumes of 390 ± 245 mL and 528 ± 219 mL in the functional constipation and control groups, respectively (p = 0.001). The maximum volume in the water load test correlated with the 24 h daily intake of energy (rS = +0.42, p = 0.012), protein (rS = +0.48, p = 0.004), and water (rS = +0.39, p = 0.020) only in the group with functional constipation.

CONCLUSIONS & INFERENCES

According to the water load test, gastric accommodation was impaired in children with severe functional constipation. The impairment of gastric accommodation in children with severe functional constipation is related to food intake.

A comprehensive review of functional dyspepsia in pediatrics

Functional gastrointestinal disorders have been known as a diagnosis of exclusion since the Rome Foundation first created these criteria in 1990. Since that time, a large amount of research and clinical data has better clarified the mechanisms and treatment options for these. Functional dyspepsia is caused by physiologic, genetic, environmental, and psychological factors, as well as various functional abnormalities, such as increased sensitivity to acid, increased sensitivity to duodenal lipids and low-grade inflammation. This disorder has significant symptom overlap between other functional disorders, such as irritable bowel syndrome and gastroparesis, but has differential criteria and two new subclasses: postprandial distress syndrome and epigastric pain syndrome. Diagnosis of functional dyspepsia should be based upon appropriate clinical evaluation in tandem with Rome IV criteria. In recent years, many treatment measures for functional dyspepsia have been studied, such as pharmacologic intervention, behavioral therapy, or alternative therapy, an example being hypnotherapy. These treatment measures have proven to be effective in symptom reduction in pediatrics. Though this disorder is functional, it has been shown to cause a significant impact on pediatric patients' quality of life continuing into adulthood.

The water load test in school children and adolescents with functional gastrointestinal disorders

BACKGROUND/AIMS

We hypothesize that patients with functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGID) drink less water volume than healthy subjects during water load test. We evaluated and compared the water load test in students with and without FGID using the Rome III questionnaire.

METHODS

We performed the water load test in 142 students from two schools in Colombia. Students were diagnosed using the Spanish version of the Rome III questionnaire. Students drank water ad libitum for 3 min or until pain, satiety, or vomiting occurred. We correlated anthropometric variables with water volumes drunk. We recorded symptoms like pain and nausea, before and after the water load test.

RESULTS

We evaluated 142 students, with a mean age of 12.1 ± 0.2 years and 59.9% girls. Mean water volume drunk was 459 ± 22 mL. There was no significant difference between water volume drunk by students with and without FGID (466 ± 36 vs. 453 ± 27 mL, p = 0.108). We found a significant correlation between water volume drunk and gender, age, weight, height, and body mass index.

CONCLUSIONS

Students with and without FGID ingest similar volumes of water. Test adverse effects are minimal, and the test is safe to perform and well tolerated.

Intestinal fructose malabsorption is associated with increased lactulose fermentation in the intestinal lumen

OBJECTIVE

To study fructose malabsorption in children and adolescents with abdominal pain associated with functional gastrointestinal disorders. As an additional objective, the association between intestinal fructose malabsorption and food intake, including the estimated fructose consumption, weight, height, and lactulose fermentability were also studied.

METHODS

The study included 31 patients with abdominal pain (11 with functional dyspepsia, 10 with irritable bowel syndrome, and 10 with functional abdominal pain). The hydrogen breath test was used to investigate fructose malabsorption and lactulose fermentation in the intestinal lumen. Food consumption was assessed by food registry. Weight and height were measured.

RESULTS

Fructose malabsorption was characterized in 21 (67.7%) patients (nine with irritable bowel syndrome, seven with functional abdominal pain, and five with functional dyspepsia). Intolerance after fructose administration was observed in six (28.6%) of the 21 patients with fructose malabsorption. Fructose malabsorption was associated with higher (p<0.05) hydrogen production after lactulose ingestion, higher (p<0.05) energy and carbohydrate consumption, and higher (p<0.05) body mass index z-score value for age. Median estimates of daily fructose intake by patients with and without fructose malabsorption were, respectively, 16.1 and 10.5g/day (p=0.087).

CONCLUSION

Fructose malabsorption is associated with increased lactulose fermentability in the intestinal lumen. Body mass index was higher in patients with fructose malabsorption.