Case Series on Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry in Pain Abdomen With School Refusal Among Children

Authors

• Jatin Kumar, JSS Academy of Higher Education and ResearchFollow
• Aditya Takiar, JSS Academy of Higher Education and ResearchFollow
• Kishor M, JSS Academy of Higher Education and ResearchFollow
• Sudhamshu K.C, JSS Academy of Higher Education and ResearchFollow
• Anil Kumar M.G., JSSAcademy of Higher Education and ResearchFollow
• Prashanth S.N, JSS Academy of Higher Education and ResearchFollow

Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0009-0002-0263-9919

Corresponding Author

Aditya Takiar

Email id- adityatakiar271@gmail.com

Abstract

Chronic abdominal pain is one of the most common causes of school refusal in children often leading to multiple hospital visits and expenses. This study was done to assess the psychiatric morbidity underlying functional gastrointestinal complaints in children presenting to paediatric surgery unit. We conducted a prospective case series (N=11; ages 8–13) of children referred from Paediatric Surgery between June and December 2025. All these children presented with idiopathic abdominal pain and a significant period of absence from school. These children were evaluated for any organic causes through the use of various investigations including imaging studies and were referred to psychiatry OPD after they turned up to be within normal limits. Psychiatric assessment revealed a high prevalence of depressive disorders (54.5%), followed by learning disabilities and parental psychopathology. While 81.8% of the children successfully restarted going to school following multidisciplinary intervention, failure was associated with chronic absenteeism (>250 days). These results show that abdominal pain in paediatric age group is frequently a manifestation of social and emotional distress. The high success rate of school return shows the necessity of early Consultation-Liaison involvement. These early interventions can help decrease the duration of school absenteeism and also minimise the number and cost of medical investigations. Clinicians must move beyond a diagnosis of exclusion towards an integrated model of care that addresses the child’s educational and familial environment.

Publication Date

2025

Publisher

JSS Academy of Higher Education & Research

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Keywords

School Refusal, Consultation-liaison psychiatry, Psychiatry, Chronic abdominal pain, Functional gastrointestinal disorders, Paediatric surgery

Word Count

1087

Recommended Citation

Kumar J, Takiar A, M K, K.C S, Kumar M.G. A, S.N P. Case Series on Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry in Pain Abdomen With School Refusal Among Children. Digital Journal of Clinical Medicine. 2025; 8(1): -. doi: https://doi.org/10.55691/2582-3868.1297

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.