Faecal calprotectin for differentiating between irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease: a useful screen in daily gastroenterology practice

摘要

Objective To determine the best faecal calprotectin (FCP) cut-off level for differentiating between irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and organic disease, particularly inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), in patients presenting with chronic diarrhoea.Design Retrospective analysis of patients who had colonoscopy, histology and FCP completed within 2 months. Setting District general hospital. Patients Consecutive new patients with chronic diarrhoea lasting longer than 4 weeks. Interventions Patients were seen by a single experienced gastroenterologist and listed for colonoscopy with histology. Laboratory investigations included a single faecal specimen for calprotectin assay (lower limit of detection: 8 |xg/g), the results used for information only. Main outcome measures Six FCP cut-off levels (range 8-150 mug/g) were compared against the 'gold standard' of histology: inflammation 'present' or 'absent'.