A rare cause of abdominal pain: Abdominal epilepsy a diagnosis often missed

Abstract

Abdominal epilepsy (AE) is a very rare and easily missed; which is thought to be temporal lobe epilepsy and is usually a diagnosis of exclusion. AE usually affects the pediatric age group. However, there have been recorded occurrences even in adults. AE presents as unexplained, variable severity, relentless, recurrent gastrointestinal symptoms such as paroxysmal pain episodes, nausea, bloating, and diarrhea. These symptoms show significant improvement with antiepileptic therapy. Diagnosis is aided by electroencephalography changes in the temporal lobes associated with symptoms suggestive of central nervous system involvements such as altered consciousness, confusion, or lethargy. Vague nature of the symptoms causes misdiagnosis in most cases, leading to persistent suffering for the patient. We present a case of 35-year-old female who presented with abdominal pain and after extensive workup was diagnosed as a case of AE. She responded well to the treatment and doing well on follow-up.