Open AccessSomatoform Pain Disorder Presenting as “Atypical Facial Pain:” A Rare Presentation in a 13-year-old
Author(s) -
Ruchita Shah,
Nidhi Chauhan
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
indian journal of psychological medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.417
H-Index - 24
eISSN - 0975-1564
pISSN - 0253-7176
DOI - 10.4103/0253-7176.211740
Subject(s) - presentation (obstetrics) , psychosocial , medicine , abdominal pain , anxiety , girl , pediatrics , facial pain , trigeminal neuralgia , psychiatry , psychology , surgery , developmental psychology
Children and adolescents often present to physicians and pediatricians with a range of medically unexplained symptoms, most common being headache, abdominal, and bone pains. These symptoms can be a manifestation of underlying depressive, anxiety or somatoform disorders, and sometimes the only symptom. Hence, it is important to recognize and manage these symptoms. Atypical facial pain (AFP) or atypical trigeminal neuralgia that has variably been described to be of psychological origin is considered to be rare in children. We describe the case of a 13-year-old adolescent girl who presented with AFP, who was finally diagnosed to have a somatoform disorder. We discuss the characteristics of AFP in the index case that justify the diagnosis. We also attempt to describe psychosocial factors related to such a presentation.