New Insights into the Pathogenesis and Pathophysiology of Irritable Bowel Syndrome

The irritable bowel syndrome is a chronic abdominal symptom complex for which there is no underlying structural abnormality. Abdominal symptoms occurring in IBS are thought to arise as a result of motility disturbances, although the exact relationships between symptoms and altered motor patterns remain to be determined.1 The disorder may involve any part of the gastrointestinal tract, giving rise to a variety of symptom-complexes and thus the …