Table 2.

 Effectiveness of treatments for abdominal pain in children

Therapy	Definition of disorder	Description of trials	Side effects	Effectiveness
Cognitive behavioural (family) therapy	Recurrent abdominal pain	Three randomised trials in 60 referred and 69 non-referred children compared cognitive behavioural therapy with waiting list or standard medical care	None reported	Beneficial
Famotidine	Recurrent abdominal pain and dyspeptic symptoms	One randomised placebo controlled trial in 25 referred children; children showed improvement on a subjective scale but not on an objective measurement of abdominal pain	Not evaluated	Inconclusive
Added dietary fibre	Recurrent abdominal pain	Two randomised placebo controlled trials in 52 non-referred children and 40 children admitted to hospital	Not evaluated	Unlikely to be beneficial
Lactose-free diet	Recurrent abdominal pain	Two randomised controlled trials comparing a lactose containing diet with a lactose-free diet in 38 children	Not evaluated	Unlikely to be beneficial
Peppermint oil	Irritable bowel syndrome using Manning criteria	One randomised placebo controlled trial of peppermint oil for two weeks in 42 children referred to a paediatric gastroenterology centre	Not evaluated	Likely to be beneficial
Pizotifen	Abdominal migraine using Rome II criteria	One placebo controlled crossover trial of pizotifen for one month in 14 referred children	Drowsiness, weight gain	Likely to be beneficial
Lactobacillus GG	Irritable bowel syndrome using Rome II criteria	One randomised placebo controlled trial of lactobacillus GG in 50 children referred to a paediatric gastroenterology centre	Not evaluated	Unlikely to be beneficial

The effectiveness of analgesics, antispasmodics, sedatives, and antidepressants is currently unknown.