One of the most common pediatric problems is abdominal pain in kids. You certainly cannot make a diagnosis over the telephone if you are a physician or by telemedicine. Taking a child or teen to an ER is not a good idea either because most ER doctors have very little pediatric training. They are usually great for accidents and trauma, but not for something like acute abdominal pain.
One of the newer problems that I don't remember ever having to deal with when I was in pediatric practice is kidney stones. These are becoming more and more common in kids. I am not sure if this is their diet or what is going on. To diagnosis a kidney stone, you need a CT scan or ultrascan. A urinalysis is also important.
Other causes of abdominal pain are constipation, an ulcer, appendicitis, food poisoning or a foreign body. I have always been amazed at the things kids will swallow, eat, or drink. One boy swallowed a razor blade. I still have the X-ray. He did O.K. but had to be hospitalized. A rectal examination can help make the correct diagnosis. If the child's doctor can not make a diagnosis, you need to get a second opinion. I am not sure medical students these days are learning about doing rectal examinations or looking for things like foreign bodies. I worry a lot about what is being taught to the medical students. A lot of it is how to use the computer, not common every day things like constipation, food poisoning etc.
As a parent you may have to be quite forceful to be sure a doctor is doing a complete examination to find the source of abdominal pain. Not every pain means a child should be taken to the operating room.
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