Functional Abdominal Pain Syndrome

The category of functional abdominal pain syndrome is a rather broad one. While not a specific condition in and of itself, FAPS is nonetheless a problem for a great number of people. However, while the pain can be particularly bad, and is usually at a near constant for those who suffer from this condition, there are important differences between functional abdominal pain syndrome and other disorders of the bowels.

Definition

• What causes functional abdominal pain syndrome isn't exactly known. Unlike other disorders, which may have a certain virus or bacteria that can be tested for and blamed, FAPS is nothing more than a disfunction of the gut itself. Something has happened inside the body that causes the stomach to feel pain, though there are arguments as to whether or not this disorder is physical or psychological in nature.

Symptoms

• Sufferers of functional abdominal pain syndrome feel a constant, nearly constant, or often recurring pain in their gut. For this condition to be considered this pain must have been present for at least 6 months, and the pain must have been extreme enough to have resulted in a partial loss of the patient's daily activities.

Criteria

• There is a single, important criteria that separates functional abdominal pain syndrome from other disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome. Put simply, the pain that the patient is experiencing cannot be connected to either their food intake or the patient's defecation.

Psychology

• Symptoms of chronic, often agonizing pain with little or no apparent cause are often more the realm of psychological disorders than they are physical ones. As such, there is a lot of discussion as to whether or not functional abdominal pain syndrome should in fact be considered a mental derangement, rather than a physical ailment.

Reasoning

• Functional abdominal pain syndrome is commonly associated with other, somatic symptoms of pain and discomfort. Often these additional pains are thought to be related to gynecological or urinary sources. In psychiatric nosology, functional abdominal pain syndrome can be considered, and is often treated as, a somatoform disorder. In fact, suffering from functional abdominal pain syndrome can be used to meet some of the criterion for a patient to be diagnosed with a somatization disorder.