Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Irritable Bowel Syndrome is a topic covered in the 5-Minute Emergency Consult.

To view the entire topic, please or .

Emergency Central is a collection of disease, drug, and test information including 5-Minute Emergency Medicine Consult, Davis’s Drug, McGraw-Hill Medical’s Diagnosaurus®, Pocket Guide to Diagnostic Tests, and MEDLINE Journals created for emergency medicine professionals. Explore these free sample topics:

-- The first section of this topic is shown below --

Basics

Description

  • Syndrome of abdominal pain associated with altered bowel habits and no other pathology explaining symptoms
  • Prevalence estimated to be 10–20%

Etiology

  • Uncertain pathophysiology, but many possibilities
  • Altered GI motility:
    • Increased gut sensitivity (visceral hyperalgesia):
      • Exaggerated response to normal GI physiology
  • Mucosal inflammation:
    • Postinfectious:
      • Prevalence of IBS after Giardia lamblia infection above 40%
  • Mucosal lymphocyte infiltration
  • Altered microflora in small bowel or feces
  • Food sensitivity is a possibility but not proven
  • Psychosocial dysfunction:
    • More anxiety, somatoform disorders, and history of abuse in patients who seek care
    • No evidence of increased psychiatric illness in those who do not seek care

-- To view the remaining sections of this topic, please or --

Basics

Description

  • Syndrome of abdominal pain associated with altered bowel habits and no other pathology explaining symptoms
  • Prevalence estimated to be 10–20%

Etiology

  • Uncertain pathophysiology, but many possibilities
  • Altered GI motility:
    • Increased gut sensitivity (visceral hyperalgesia):
      • Exaggerated response to normal GI physiology
  • Mucosal inflammation:
    • Postinfectious:
      • Prevalence of IBS after Giardia lamblia infection above 40%
  • Mucosal lymphocyte infiltration
  • Altered microflora in small bowel or feces
  • Food sensitivity is a possibility but not proven
  • Psychosocial dysfunction:
    • More anxiety, somatoform disorders, and history of abuse in patients who seek care
    • No evidence of increased psychiatric illness in those who do not seek care

There's more to see -- the rest of this topic is available only to subscribers.