RAP sstands for strong>recurrent abdominal pain. As its name suggests, it is the abdominal pain (tummy ache) that occurs either intermittently or continuously (every day) over time. Some important characteristics of RAP are:
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- It is very common. Approximately 1 in every 5 or 6 school-age children has RAP
- Sometimes, it is so intense or so continuous that it can interfere with everyday activities, to the point of being a cause of school absenteeism with an impact on academic performance.
- It generates a lot of family concern, because it becomes a recurring complaint for which it is difficult to give an explanation or find a medical cause to explain it.
- It results in many visits to primary care, emergency services, and specialized consultations, as well as the performance of many unnecessary, disruptive and costly tests, which do not arrive at any diagnosis.
- Many families end up resorting to non-traditional medicine or therapies that do not solve the problem either.