Constipation in the Pediatric Emergency Department: Clinical Presentations, Diagnostic Context and Testing Patterns.
Most children discharged with constipation didn't report constipation as main complaint
Constipation in the Pediatric Emergency Department: Clinical Presentations, Diagnostic Context and Testing Patterns.
Constipation in children often presents with non-specific symptoms, which can complicate its recognition in the pediatric emergency department (pediatric emergency department).
This study aimed to characterize the clinical presentations, diagnostic context and testing patterns of children discharged with constipation from a tertiary pediatric emergency center.
A retrospective analysis of medical records of patients under 18 years of age was conducted for patients who presented to the pediatric emergency department of a tertiary hospital in northern Poland from 2021-2024 and were ultimately discharged as K59.0 ICD-10 code (constipation).
Only about 1 in 4 had constipation itself as their chief complaint
Pediatric emergency department visits discharged with ICD-10 code K59.0 accounted for 2.97% of all 34,278 pediatric emergency department visits during study period.
The most common complaints were abdominal pain (61.6%), vomiting (14.4%), and urinary symptoms (4.9%).
Commonly suspected initial diagnoses were urinary tract infections or acute appendicitis.
More complete documentation of constipation-related symptoms showed an exploratory association with less intensive diagnostic testing.
Constipation should be routinely considered in children presenting to the pediatric emergency department with abdominal pain, vomiting, urinary symptoms, or rectal bleeding, even when bowel problems are not the main complaint.
Structured history taking supported by simple diagnostic tools could help standardize assessment and support patient selection for further testing, although prospective studies are needed to determine clinical outcomes.