Mechanisms and management of gastrointestinal symptoms in postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome

Abstract

Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) is a disorder of orthostatic intolerance associated with many GI manifestations that can be broadly classified into two different categories: those present all the time (non-positional) and those that occur with orthostatic position change. There are also many conditions that can co-exist with POTS such as mast cell activation syndrome and the hypermobile form of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS) that are also oftentimes associated with GI symptoms. In the current issue of Neurogastroenterology and Motility, Tai et al. explored the relationship between functional GI disorders among hEDS patients with and without concomitant POTS and showed that the hEDS-POTS cohort was more likely to have more than one GI organ involved compared to the cohort with hEDS alone, and certain GI symptoms were also more common in the hEDS-POTS cohort. In this review article, we will briefly review the literature surrounding putative mechanisms responsible for GI symptoms in POTS with an emphasis on the contributory role of concomitant hEDS and then discuss management strategies for GI symptoms in POTS.

Keywords: abdominal pain; functional gastrointestinal disorders; gastrointestinal motility; hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome; nausea; postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome.