Characterized by altered bowel habits, abdominal pain, and absence of detectable organic pathology. Most common GI disease in clinical practice. Three types of clinical presentations: (1) spastic colon (chronic abdominal pain and constipation), (2) alternating constipation and diarrhea, or (3) chronic, painless diarrhea.
Visceral hyperalgesia to mechanoreceptor stimuli is common. Reported abnormalities include altered colonic motility at rest and in response to stress, cholinergic drugs, cholecystokinin; altered small-intestinal motility; enhanced visceral sensation (lower pain threshold in response to gut distention); and abnormal extrinsic innervation of the gut. Pts presenting with IBS to a physician have an increased frequency of psychological disturbances-depression, hysteria, obsessive-compulsive disorder. Specific food intolerances and malabsorption of bile acids by the terminal ileum may account for a few cases.
Onset often before age 30; females:males = 2:1. Abdominal pain and irregular bowel habits. Additional symptoms often include abdominal distention, relief of abdominal pain with bowel movement, increased frequency of stools with pain, loose stools with pain, mucus in stools, and sense of incomplete evacuation. Associated findings include pasty stools, ribbony or pencil-thin stools, heartburn, bloating, back pain, weakness, faintness, palpitations, and urinary frequency.
IBS is a diagnosis of exclusion. Rome criteria for diagnosis are shown in Table 152-1 Rome IV Diagnostic Criteria for Irritable Bowel Syndromea . Consider sigmoidoscopy and barium radiographs to exclude inflammatory bowel disease or malignancy; consider excluding giardiasis, intestinal lactase deficiency, and hyperthyroidism.
| TREATMENT | ||
Irritable Bowel SyndromeReassurance and supportive physician-pt relationship, avoidance of stress or precipitating factors, dietary bulk (fiber, psyllium extract, e.g., Metamucil one tbsp daily or bid); for diarrhea, trials of loperamide (2-mg tabs PO q A.M. then 1 PO after each loose stool to a maximum of 8/d, then titrate), diphenoxylate (Lomotil) (up to 2-mg tabs PO qid), or cholestyramine (up to 1-g packet mixed in water PO qid); for pain, anticholinergics (e.g., dicyclomine HCl 10-40 mg PO qid) or hyoscyamine as Levsin 1-2 PO q4h prn (Table 152-2 Possible Drugs for a Dominant Symptom in IBS). Amitriptyline 25-50 mg PO qhs or other antidepressants in low doses may relieve pain. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors such as paroxetine are being evaluated in constipation-dominant pts, and serotonin receptor antagonists such as alosetron are being evaluated in diarrhea-dominant pts. Altering gut flora with probiotics (Bifidobacterium infantis 35624) or oral nonabsorbable antibiotics (rifaximin) is being evaluated with some promising early results. Psychotherapy, hypnotherapy of possible benefit in severe refractory cases. Some pts respond to dietary changes to eliminate or severely reduce fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols (FODMAPs) (see Table 152-3 Some Common Food Sources of FODMAPs). |