One in 10 patients attends general practice with gastrointestinal symptoms.1 Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is typified by abdominal discomfort or pain, and bloating with disturbed defecation.2 It affects 10–20% of the general public,2 but it is difficult to define the prevalence of the disorder as it varies with different diagnostic criteria and many patients with IBS symptoms do not seek medical advice. The challenge for GPs is how to differentiate IBS from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which share a number of overlapping symptoms, enabling more appropriate referral to secondary care. The prevalence of IBS in general practice is far greater than IBD, which is 0.1–0.2% for ulcerative colitis and 0.05–0.1% for Crohn’s disease respectively.2
展开▼
