Recurrent abdominal pain, food allergy and endoscopy

Gastrointestinal food allergy, a well-recognized clinical entity, has a wid e spectrum of clinical features, including cutaneous, respiratory and gastr ointestinal symptoms and objective abnormalities. The gastrointestinal alte rations in food allergy have been described throughout the gastrointestinal tract. Recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) is a common complaint in school-age children. The findings among children with RAP of an underlying food allerg y associated with mucosal pathology of the foregut may support a causal rel ationship between food allergy and RAP. Further studies are needed to eluci date whether well-documented food allergy (based on double-blind placebo-co ntrolled food challenges) is a major cause of RAP.