| [ Summary ] |
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a disease that causes abdominal symptoms, such as pain and abdominal distention, attributable to bowel disorders, without any demonstrable organic diseases in the gastrointestinal tract. Many investigators have proposed a large number of diagnostic criteria. The Manning criteria, presented in 1978, has been widely used in many countries. This criteria is based on those symptoms which are specifically observed in patients with IBS. The weak point of this criteria is the difficulty in differentiating IBS from acute colonic diseases. The Rome criteria, presented in 1992, is, superior to the Manning criteria, since the Rome criter ia consists of descriptions conserning duration and frequency of symptoms. This criteria is widely used over the world and diagnostic efficiency has been improved markedly through use of this criteria. It is also used internationally for research purposes. |