Original article—alimentary tractSome Patients With Irritable Bowel Syndrome May Have Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency
Section snippets
Patients
We undertook this study at a university hospital in South Yorkshire, United Kingdom, that serves a population of about 250,000 people. Data were collected from April 2005 to March 2008. Patients referred to a general adult gastrointestinal clinic were excluded from the study if they did not fulfill Rome II criteria or had sinister symptoms such as weight loss, rectal bleeding, or nocturnal diarrhea. Furthermore, patients meeting the criteria for D-IBS specifically were selected (Table 1).
Results
During the study period, 403 patients were referred who met the Rome II criteria for D-IBS. From this group 314 (77.9%) took part in the study (mean age, 46.3 y; 96 men). A total of 105 individuals with chronic diarrhea and 95 individuals without diarrhea were included as prevalence controls. All 314 patients had initial hematologic, biochemical, and immunologic testing performed, as well as providing a sample for Fel-1 measurement.
The treating physician arranged further investigations for 227
Discussion
The present study describes a cross-sectional analysis for exocrine pancreatic insufficiency in patients referred to a university hospital with symptoms fulfilling the Rome II criteria for D-IBS. The prevalence of a low Fel-1 level (suggestive of exocrine pancreatic insufficiency) in D-IBS was 6.1%. In addition, a low Fel-1 level was significantly more common than in either diarrhea or nondiarrhea control groups. Furthermore, supplementation with pancreatic enzymes led to improvements in stool
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Conflicts of interest The authors disclose no conflicts.
Funding This study was supported by Bardhan Research and Education Trust of Rotherham and Solvay Pharmaceuticals. Dr Leeds' salary was funded partly by Solvay pharmaceuticals; however, Solvay had no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the paper for publication.