Abdominal pain and functional gastrointestinal disorders

摘要

Various functional gastrointestinal pain syndromes have been defined, but there is substantial overlap between them. There is also substantial overlap with other functional disorders such as chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and chronic pelvic pain. The classification system for functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGID) therefore remains controversial and is seldom used outside specialist and research settings. Furthermore, the psychological management of these different syndromes is essentially similar. In primary care about half of the patients seen with gut complaints have FGID, the most common disorder being irritable bowel syndrome. A UK general practitioner is estimated to see eight patients with irritable bowel syndrome every week, one of whom will be presenting for the first time.