Another study has shown that an extensive workup is not needed for IBS (Clin Gastro Hepatol 2013; 11 956-62).
In this study from Denmark, the authors enrolled 302 patients aged 18-50 from a primary care setting with suspected IBS. 250 patients completed the entire study including a 1-year followup. These patients fulfilled Rome III criteria and had no alarm signals which were the following:
- Unexplained weight loss >3 kg
- Rectal bleeding
- Unexplained fever or anemia
- Family history of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) or colorectal cancer (CRC)
- Abnormal physical exam
Patients were randomly assigned to either an extensive diagnostic group which included blood tests (including celiac screen & lactase gene test), stool exams, and sigmoidoscopy or to a “positive strategy” which involved testing only with a blood count (CBC/diff) and C-reactive protein.
The group which underwent a more extensive workup had no cases of serious disease, like IBD or CRC identified. 11 patients were identified with lactose intolerance, 1 patient had a rectal adenoma, 1 patient had a benign polyp, and 1 patient had giardiasis.
Overall, the authors and the accompanying editorial (pgs 963-964) conclude that the positive strategy was noninferior to the more extensive evaluation. One limitation of this study was that patients had carried symptoms compatible with IBS for an average of 7 years before enrollment.
Take-home message: this study “adds to the growing body of evidence in favor of a relatively minimal symptom-based approach to diagnosing IBS.”
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