Comorbidity in IBS is due to a general amplification of symptom reporting and physician consultation rather than a few unique associations; this suggests biased symptom perception rather than shared pathophysiology. Comorbidity is influenced by, but is not explained by, psychiatric illness. Excess comorbidity is present in only a subset of IBS patients.

OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to develop and to test a home-based, guided imagery treatment protocol, using audio and video recordings, that is easy for health care professionals and patients to use, is inexpensive, and is applicable to a wide range of health care settings. METHODS: Thirty-four children, 6 to 15 years of age, with a physician diagnosis of functional abdominal pain were assigned randomly to receive 2 months of standard medical care with or without home-based, guided imagery treatment. Children who received only standard medical care initially received guided imagery treatment after 2 months. Children were monitored for 6 months after completion of guided imagery treatment. RESULTS: All treatment materials were reported to be self-explanatory, enjoyable, and easy to understand and to use. The compliance rate was 98.5%. In an intention-to-treat analysis, 63.1% of children in the guided imagery treatment group were treatment responders, compared with 26.7% in the standard medical care–only group (P = .03; number needed to treat: 3). Per-protocol analysis showed similar results (73.3% vs 28.6% responders). When the children in the standard medical care group also received guided imagery treatment, 61.5% became treatment responders. Treatment effects were maintained for 6 months (62.5% responders). CONCLUSION: Guided imagery treatment plus medical care was superior to standard medical care only for the treatment of abdominal pain, and treatment effects were sustained over a long period.

Introduction and Aims The Rome III classification system treats functional constipation (FC) and irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C) as distinct disorders, but this distinction appears artificial, and the same drugs are used to treat both. This study’s hypothesis is that FC and IBS-C defined by Rome III are not distinct entities. Method 1,100 adults with a primary care visit for constipation and 1,700 age and gender matched controls from a health maintenance organization completed surveys 12 months apart; 66.2% returned the first questionnaire. Rome III criteria identified 231 with FC and 201 with IBS-C. The second survey was completed by 195 of the FC and 141 of the IBS-C cohorts. Both surveys assessed the severity of constipation and IBS, quality of life (QOL), and psychological distress. Results (1) Overlap: If the Rome III requirement that patients meeting criteria for IBS cannot be diagnosed FC is suspended, 89.5% of IBS-C cases meet criteria for FC and 43.8% of FC patients fulfill criteria for IBS-C. (2) No qualitative differences between FC and IBS-C: 44.8% of FC patients report abdominal pain, and paradoxically IBS-C patients have more constipation symptoms than FC. (3) Switching between diagnoses: by 12 months, 1/3 of FC transition to IBS-C and 1/3 of IBS-C change to FC. Conclusions Patients identified by Rome III criteria for FC and IBS-C are not distinct groups. Revisions to the Rome III criteria, possibly including incorporation of physiological tests of transit and pelvic floor function, are needed.

Objectives Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) patients show pain hypersensitivity and hypercontractility in response to colonic or rectal distention. Aims were to determine whether predominant bowel habits and IBS symptom severity are related to pain sensitivity, colon motility, or smooth muscle tone. Methods 129 patients classified as IBS with diarrhea (IBS-D, n=44), IBS with constipation (IBS-C, n=29), mixed IBS (IBS-M, n=45) and unspecified IBS (IBS-U, n=11) based on stool consistency, and 30 healthy controls (HC) were studied. A manometric catheter containing a 600-ml capacity plastic bag was positioned in the descending colon. Pain threshold was assessed using a barostat. Motility was assessed for 10 min with the bag minimally inflated (individual operating pressure or IOP), 10 min at 20 mmHg above the IOP, and for 15-min recovery following bag inflation. Motility was also recorded for 30 min following an 810-kcal meal. Results Compared to HC, IBS patients had lower pain thresholds (medians: 30 vs. 40 mmHg, p<0.01), but IBS subtypes were not different. IBS symptom severity was correlated with pain thresholds (rho=-0.36, p<0.001). During distention, the motility index (MI) was significantly higher in IBS compared to HC (909±73 vs. 563±78, p<0.01). Average barostat bag volume at baseline was higher (muscle tone lower) in HC compared to IBS-D and IBS-M but not compared to IBS-C. The baseline MI and bag volume differed between IBS-D and IBS-C and correlated with symptoms of abdominal distention and dissatisfaction with bowel movements. Pain thresholds and MI during distention were uncorrelated. Conclusions Pain sensitivity and colon motility are independent factors contributing to IBS symptoms. Treatment may need to address both and to be specific to predominant bowel habit.

SUMMARY AimTo provide estimates of actual costs to deliver health care to patients with functional bowel disorders, and to assess the cost impact of symptom severity, recency of onset, and satisfaction with treatment. MethodsWe enrolled 558 irritable bowel (IBS), 203 constipation, 243 diarrhoea and 348 abdominal pain patients from primary care and gastroenterology clinics at a health maintenance organization within weeks of a visit. Costs were extracted from administrative claims. Symptom severity, satisfaction with treatment and out-of-pocket expenses were assessed by questionnaires. ResultsAverage age was 52 years, 27% were males, and 59% participated. Eighty percent were seen in primary care clinics. Mean annual direct health care costs were $5049 for IBS, $6140 for diarrhoea, $7522 for constipation and $7646 for abdominal pain. Annual out-of-pocket expenses averaged $406 for treatment of IBS symptoms, $294 for diarrhoea, $390 for constipation and $304 for abdominal pain. Lower gastrointestinal costs comprised 9% of total costs for IBS, 9% for diarrhoea, 6.5% for constipation and 9% for abdominal pain. In-patient care accounted for 17.5% of total costs (15.2% IBS). ConclusionCosts were affected by disease severity (increased), recent exacerbation of bowel symptoms (increased), and whether the patient was consulting for the first time (decreased).