Excessive Crying of Infancy; A Report of 200 Cases

Objective: Excessive crying of infancy; a single continuous episode of crying more than 2 hours; is acommon and often serious problem for parents. The objective of this study was to determine theincidence and etiology of acute episodes of excessive infant crying and to propose an approach fortaking care of them.Material Methods: In this cross sectional study all patients less than 2 years old presented to theEmergency Department (ED) with ≥2 hours of crying with an unapparent cause for their parents wereincluded in this study. Patients with fever, chronic disease and any disease 72 hours proceeding thecrying were excluded.Findings: The incidence of excessive crying was 200 (1.74% ) among the 13600 ED visits in 2consecutive years .The three most common causes were colic (29.5%), acute otitis media (15.5%) andconstipation (5.5%). History and physical examination led to diagnosis in 86% of cases.Conclusion: Many conditions and diseases may cause excessive crying in infants. Complete historyand physical examination of all parts of the body provide clues for the diagnosis in most cases andhelp the physician to avoid over diagnosis and over treatment.