Publication at First Faculty of Medicine |
2016
Abstract
Irritable bowell syndrome (IBS) is a complex condition, characterized by abdominal pain or discomfort associated with altered bowel habits and altered epithelial function. The author presents cases of two patients suffered from postinfectious (bottom-up) and non-postinfectious (top-down) IBS.
Differences in the microbiota between IBS patients and healthy controls have been reported, but the association between IBS symptoms and specific bacterial species is uncertain. Low-grade inflammation appears to play a role in the pathophysiology of a major subset of IBS, namely postinfectious IBS.
However, in prognosis and specific treatment there are no differences between postinfectous and non-postinfectious IBS.