My five yr old daughter has had pale faeces and upper abdominal pain for a week. The pain comes and goes and seems to appear approx half an hour after eating. She had diarrhoea one week ago and now her stools are soft and pale but no more diarrhoea....Is this just post-upset tummy from last week? Or should I be more concerned re; diet issues and malabsorption of fats..?
Hello, thank you for posting in Chat Doctor. Pale feces as you have said, can come from a problem of malabsorption, but can also indicate homeostasis which is a problem in the movement of bile (which gives the color to feces) from the liver to the gut. Does she also have very yellow colored urine, and yellowish eyes or skin? Diet issues do not make feces pale, so that is not a cause. I would suggest you get a urine examination along with a liver function test with bilirubin, ALT/AST, GET, albumin, and an ultrasound abdomen. Hope I have answered your question. Take care!