Chronic abdominal wall pain: clinical features, health care costs, and long-term outcome.

Background & Aims: Chronic abdominal wall pain (CAWP) often is misdiagnosed. We evaluated CAWP patients regarding diagnosis accuracy, clinical features, comorbidity, referral frequency, use of care, and long-term outcome.

Methods: We reviewed the records of all outpatients referred to a gastroenterologist in 5 years, recorded referral indications, and identified patients initially diagnosed with CAWP or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).