Recently, Dr. Neha Santucci gave our group an excellent update on disorders of gut-brain interaction.  My notes below may contain errors in transcription and in omission. Along with my notes, I have included many of her slides.

Key points:

• Atlantis study showed that amitriptyline reduces IBS pain (Related blog post: Atlantis Study: Possibly Best Evidence That Tricyclics May Help Irritable Bowel)
• Dr. Santucci reviewed the evidence for linaclotide, cyproheptadine, mirtazapine, prucalopride, and aprepitant. The latter was effective for CVS but not functional nausea.
• Placebo has been shown to have some beneficial effects in DGBIs; this affects the results of clinical trials
• Ginger may be beneficial for nausea
• Intrapyloric botox has been associated with improvement in functional dyspepsia. Improvement did not correlated with gastric emptying
• Percutaneous electrical nerve field stimulation (PENFS) is associated with improvement in multiple aspects of functional disorders including pain, nausea, somatization, sleep and anxiety.
• The improvements in abdominal pain and functional disability with PENFS are still present at least 6-12 months afterwards
• PENFS can be repeated and has similar effectiveness
• PENFS can be used in children >8 yrs, can be used with other treatments (pharmacologic, psychologic, or dietary).
• PENFS can be used as prophylaxis of CVS

Related blog posts:

• Auricular Stimulation Associated with Less Pain, Less Disability, and Better Sleep
• Brave New World of Neuromodulators (2024) for Disorders of Brain-Gut Interaction
• Opportunity Costs with Auricular Stimulation in Adolescents with Irritable Bowel Syndrome
• Neuro-Stim for Refractory Cyclic Vomiting?
• “Implementing psychological therapies for gastrointestinal disorders in pediatrics”
• Linaclotide -Here’s the Pediatric Data
• Educating Families About Chronic Pain
• Linaclotide -Now FDA-Approved for Children
• Educating Families About Chronic Pain (2024). This is a very helpful article explaining how to educate families about chronic pain
• A (Virtual) Reality Without Pain?
• Jose Garza: What’s New in Motility (Part 2)
• It Hurts Here and Here and Here
• Dreaded Nausea (2022) Plus Skills or Pills
• Dreaded Nausea

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