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Review
. 2019 Nov-Dec;32(6):554-564.
doi: 10.20524/aog.2019.0428. Epub 2019 Oct 22.

New insights into irritable bowel syndrome: from pathophysiology to treatment

Alexandros Hadjivasilis  1 , Constantinos Tsioutis  1 , Adamantios Michalinos  1 , Dimitrios Ntourakis  1 , Dimitrios K Christodoulou  2 , Aris P Agouridis  1
Affiliations
Review

New insights into irritable bowel syndrome: from pathophysiology to treatment

Alexandros Hadjivasilis et al. Ann Gastroenterol. 2019 Nov-Dec.

Abstract

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is the most common reason to visit a gastroenterologist. IBS was believed to be a functional disease, but many possible pathophysiologic mechanisms can now explain the symptoms. IBS patients are classified into subtypes according to their predominant bowel habit, based on the Rome IV criteria. These include diarrhea-predominant and constipation-predominant IBS, as well as the mixed type, a combination of the two. Usually, IBS treatment is based on the predominant symptoms, with many options for each subtype. A new promising treatment option, fecal microbiota transplantation, seems to have beneficial effects on IBS. However, treating the pathophysiological causative agent responsible for the symptoms is an emerging approach. Therefore, before the appropriate therapeutic option is chosen for treating IBS, a clinical evaluation of its pathophysiology should be performed.

Keywords: Irritable bowel syndrome; Rome IV criteria; fecal microbiota transplantation; pathophysiology; treatment.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None

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