Irritable bowel syndrome: diagnosis and management.

Irritable bowel syndrome: diagnosis and management. Minerva Gastroenterol Dietol. 2019 Dec 09;: Authors: Masuy I, Pannemans J, Tack J Abstract Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is one of the most common functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) encountered in clinical practice. In the absence of an accurate biomarker for the disorder, IBS is mainly diagnosed based symptomology using the Rome criteria. Due to the heterogeneity of the disorder, finding the correct treatment option is often challenging. In general, lifestyle and dietary changes, including the low-FODMAP of gluten-free diet, are the first-in-line treatment for all patients. Issues with dietary changes are the strict elimination of multiple food products and hence difficult compliance to the diet. When lifestyle changes do not lead to adequate symptom relief, patients should be treated according to their predominant bowel habits and most prominent symptoms. Laxatives or prokinetics and antidiarrheals are used to treat constipation and diarrhea respectively, but have little effect on abdominal pain. To treat GI symptoms, antispasmodics can be attributed. Low doses of neuromodulators can help gain control over GI and central symptoms, but are also prone to more severe side effects, restricting their widespread use. Refractory IBS symptoms can be treated with probiotics, antibiotics, histamine-receptor antagonists or alternative therapy, including psychotherapy, hypnotherap...
Source: Minerva Gastroenterologica e Dietologica - Category: Gastroenterology Tags: Minerva Gastroenterol Dietol Source Type: research