Abdominal migraine, another cause of abdominal pain in adults

Background: Abdominal migraine is a diagnostically challenging childhood disorder, characterized by recurrent episodes of abdominal pain, which has not been clearly demonstrated to occur in adults.

Methods: We used 2 sets of consensus criteria for the diagnosis of abdominal migraine in children to evaluate adults suspected of having this condition in both our own patient population and in the medical literature. Two patients in our clinic and 11 patients from the medical literature composed our initial study cohort and were analyzed using the International Classification of Headache Disorders, 2(nd) Edition and American College of Gastroenterology Rome III Diagnostic Criteria for abdominal migraine in children.

Results: Ten of these patients met inclusion criteria for definite or probable abdominal migraine and comprised our final study cohort. The 10 patients from this adult cohort shared common demographic and clinical characteristics with children suffering from abdominal migraine, including a familial history of migraine in 90%.

Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate that abdominal migraine occurs and should be considered in the differential diagnosis of recurrent abdominal pain in adults, especially if there is a family history of migraine headaches.