Irritable bowel syndrome overview
|
Irritable bowel syndrome Microchapters |
|
Differentiating Irritable bowel syndrome from other Diseases |
|---|
|
Diagnosis |
|
Treatment |
|
Case Studies |
|
Irritable bowel syndrome overview On the Web |
|
American Roentgen Ray Society Images of Irritable bowel syndrome overview |
|
Risk calculators and risk factors for Irritable bowel syndrome overview |
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief:
Please help WikiDoc by adding content here. It's easy! Click here to learn about editing.
Overview
Irritable bowel syndrome is a functional bowel disorder characterized by abdominal pain and changes in bowel habits which are not associated with any abnormalities seen on routine clinical testing. The disease is fairly common and makes up 20–50% of visits to gastroenterologists. Lower abdominal pain, and bloating associated with alteration of bowel habits and abdominal discomfort relieved with defecation are the most frequent symptoms. The abdominal pain type is usually described in a patient as either diarrhea-predominant (IBS-D), constipation-predominant (IBS-C) or IBS with alternating stool pattern (IBS-A). In some individuals, IBS may have an acute onset and develop after an infectious illness characterised by two or more of the following: fever, vomiting, acute diarrhea or positive stool culture. This post-infective syndrome has consequently been termed "post-infectious IBS" (IBS-PI) and is acute onset Rome II criteria positive. This condition is more homogeneous, being mostly IBS-D and is drawing much clinical investigation.
Chronic functional abdominal pain (CFAP) is quite similar to, but less common than IBS. CFAP can be diagnosed if there is no change in bowel habits.
Because of the name, IBS can be confused with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
Historical Perspective
Classification
Pathophysiology
Causes
Differentiating Irritable bowel syndrome from Other Diseases
Epidemiology and Demographics
Numerous studies have reported that the prevalence of IBS varies by country and by age range examined.
Risk Factors
Risk factors for IBS include age and gender. People under 35 years of age are at a greater risk. Women also have a higher risk for developing IBS compared to men.