A Diagnosis of Irritable Bowel Syndrome Using Rome IV Criteria and Limited Investigations is Durable in Secondary Care.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a positive diagnosis, made using symptom-based criteria and limited, judicious, investigation. However, this may lead to uncertainty on the part of clinicians regarding potential for a missed diagnosis of organic gastrointestinal disease. Few studies have examined durability of a diagnosis of IBS, and none have used the current gold standard to diagnose IBS, the Rome IV criteria. METHODS: We collected complete symptom data from 373 well-characterized adults meeting Rome IV criteria for IBS referred to a single UK clinic between September 2016 and March 2020. All patients underwent relatively standardized work-up to exclude relevant organic disease before diagnosis. We followed these individuals up to December 2022, assessing rates of rereferral, reinvestigation, and missed organic gastrointestinal disease. RESULTS: During a mean follow-up of 4.2 years per patient (total follow-up in all patients, 1565 years), 62 (16.6%) patients were rereferred. Of these, 35 (56.5%) were rereferred for IBS and 27 (43.5%) for other gastrointestinal symptoms. Among the 35 rereferred with IBS this was caused by a change in symptoms in only 5 (14.3%). Reinvestigation was undertaken in 21 (60.0%) of 35 rereferred with IBS and 22 (81.5%) of 27 rereferred with other symptoms (P = .12). Only 4 (9.3% of those reinvestigated and 1.1% of the entire cohort) new cases of relevant organic disease, which may have been responsible for IBS symptoms at baseline, were identified (1 case of chronic calcific pancreatitis among those rereferred with IBS and 1 case each of inflammatory bowel disease-unclassified, moderate bile acid diarrhea, and small bowel obstruction among those rereferred with other gastrointestinal symptoms). CONCLUSIONS: Despite rereferral for gastrointestinal symptoms among 1 in 6 patients overall, with almost 10% rereferred with ongoing IBS symptoms, and substantial reinvestigation rates, missed organic gastrointestinal disease occurred in only 1%. A diagnosis of Rome IV IBS after limited investigation is safe and durable.

Prognosis of patients with Rome IV-defined versus physician-diagnosed irritable bowel syndrome: Longitudinal follow-up study.

INTRODUCTION: Little is known about the differences between patients diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) by a physician who meet the Rome IV criteria for IBS and those who do not. We conducted a longitudinal follow-up study examining this. METHODS: We collected complete gastrointestinal, extraintestinal, and psychological symptom data from 577 consecutive adult patients with suspected IBS in a single UK gastroenterology clinic. We compared baseline characteristics between patients who met Rome IV criteria for IBS, and those who had IBS according to a physician's diagnosis but who did not meet Rome IV criteria, as well as examining whether meeting Rome IV criteria at baseline influenced evolution of symptoms under therapy. KEY RESULTS: Of 455 patients diagnosed with IBS by a physician, 375 (82.4%) met Rome IV criteria and 80 (17.4%) did not. Those who met Rome IV criteria were more likely to report severe symptoms (67.6%, vs. 30.0%, p < 0.001) and that symptoms limited activities ≥50% of the time (63.0%, vs. 37.5%, p < 0.001). Patients with Rome IV IBS were more likely to have abnormal anxiety scores (50.8%, vs. 35.9%, p = 0.007) and higher levels of somatoform symptom-reporting (29.4%, vs. 12.5%, p < 0.001). Despite this, during longitudinal follow-up, there was no significant difference in mean number of appointments required subsequently, or IBS symptom severity. CONCLUSIONS AND INFERENCES: Although patients who met the Rome IV criteria had more severe symptoms at baseline and were more likely to exhibit psychological comorbidity, they did not appear to have a worse prognosis than those with physician-diagnosed IBS.

Irritable bowel syndrome; update on pathophysiology and management.

The description of the de novo development of irritable bowel syndrome following an episode of bacterial gastroenteritis (pos-infectious irritable bowel syndrome) illustrated the potential for a luminal factor (a bacterial pathogen) to cause this common gastrointestinal ailment. As a consequence of these and other observations, as well as results of experiments involving animal models, the enteric flora and the immune response that it generates in the host have, somewhat surprisingly, come centre-stage in irritable bowel syndrome research, given their potential to induce the pathophysiological changes that are associated with irritable bowel syndrome. While evidence for immune dysfunction both in the mucosa and systemically continues to accumulate, methodological limitations have hampered a full delineation of the nature of the microbiota in irritable bowel syndrome. The latter is eagerly awaited and may yet provide a firm rationale for the use of certain probiotics and antibiotics in irritable bowel syndrome, whose benefits have now been described with some consistency. Despite its prevalence, there is a striking lack of effective therapeutic options for irritable bowel syndrome. While there is reason for optimism in the management of irritable bowel syndrome with several promising new agents currently undergoing clinical trials, confirmation of the efficacy and safety of these agents in wider patient populations is awaited. A clearer understanding of the physiopathologic mechanisms underlying irritable bowel syndrome, as well as of interrelationships between irritable bowel syndrome and other gastrointestinal and non-gastrointestinal disorders, will likely be required before effective drug therapies can be found.

Current and emerging therapies for the management of functional gastrointestinal disorders.

The functional gastrointestinal disorders are common disorders that are associated with significant quality-of-life impairment and considerable economic burden on the healthcare system. They are frequently associated with a comorbid psychiatric condition; this, together with a striking lack of effective pharmacological therapies, means they represent a considerable therapeutic challenge to the treating physician. In this overview, we examine the evidence to support the use of agents currently used in the management of the more common functional gastrointestinal disorders and review emerging therapies.

Bacteria, genetics and irritable bowel syndrome.

EVALUATION OF: Villani AC, Lemire M, Thabane M et al. Genetic risk factors for post-infectious irritable bowel syndrome following a waterborne outbreak of gastroenteritis. Gastroenterology 138, 1502-1513 (2010). While the pathogenesis of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) remains to be fully defined, two clinical observations - the occurrence, de novo, of IBS following bacterial gastroenteritis and the history, commonly obtained from IBS patients, of other instances of the syndrome within their families - have instigated investigations, in IBS, of the potential roles, on the one hand, of the gut microbiota and the host response and, on the other hand, of genetic factors. The study reviewed here relates to both of these factors by studying genetic predisposition to postinfective IBS in a large population of individuals who were exposed to a multimicrobial enteric infection, which resulted in a severe outbreak of gastroenteritis and was followed by the development of IBS in over a third. In this detailed study, the investigators identified a number of genes that were linked significantly to the development of postinfectious-IBS in the Toll-like receptor 9, IL-6 and cadherin 1 regions. These genes play important roles in bacterial recognition, the inflammatory response and epithelial integrity, respectively, and provide considerable support for the hypothesis that links IBS onset to disturbances in the microbiota and the host response.

El papel de los antidepresivos en el manejo del síndrome de intestino irritable / The role of antidepressants in the management of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)

El síndrome de intestino irritable es una entidad compleja, de etiología desconocida y fisiopatología parcialmente comprendida, de frecuente ocurrencia y con múltiples tratamientos descritos. Se ha estudiado especialmente la relación de los factores psicosociales con la génesis y presentación de la entidad. El paciente requiere un enfoque que contemple sus síntomas, la reacción ante su enfermedad y su entorno. De los múltiples tratamientos descritos, los medicamentos antidepresivos han recibido considerable atención pero su utilidad clínica no es clara. El objetivo del presente trabajo es realizar una revisión enfocada de la literatura sobre las bases fisiopatológicas, la presencia de comorbilidad psiquiátrica y la utilidad clínica del uso de antidepresivos en este síndrome.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a complex entity whose etiology is unknown and whose physiopathology is incompletely known. It occurs frequently, and many treatments for it have been described. The relation of psycho-social factors to the genesis and presentation of IBS has been studied with special attention. The approach to treating IBS patients requires contemplation of the patient’s symptoms and reactions to his or her illness and environment. Of the multiple treatments for IBS which have been described, antidepressants have received considerable attention although their clinical utility is still not clear. The objective of this work is to review the literature regarding the physiopathological basis of IBS, comorbidities with psychiatric disorders, and the clinical usefulness of antidepressants for treating irritable bowel syndrome.