Severe abdominal pain: an atypical initial and leading symptom preceding skin rash in Henoch-Schönlein purpura.

Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP) is the most common vasculitis in childhood and is clinically characterised by purpura, abdominal pain, arthritis and renal involvement. Scarcely, some patients with HSP may not always show visible rash and can present with insidious abdominal symptoms. We present two patients: an 8-year-old boy who was initially considered as having infectious diarrhoea and mesenteric lymphadenitis, then intussusception, appendicitis, appendicopathia oxyuriaca and post-operative ileus.