Reminder of Important Clinical Lesson: Irritable Bowel Syndrome in Primary Care Physicians

Abstract

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is one of the most commonly diagnosed gastrointestinal diseases. IBS, in the absence of any other causative disease, is defined as the presence of abdominal pain or discomfort with altered bowel habits. The etiology of IBS is broad and not clearly understood. Nearly 12 percent of patients seek medical care in primary care practices for IBS related complaints. The pathophysiology of IBS is broad and includes abnormalities involving motility, visceral sensation, brain-gut interaction, and psychosocial distress. The clinical case presented has the textual characteristics that represent treating a patient with diagnostic criteria for this pathology. Presenting prevalent cases helps the physician in training and specialists not to overlook what is common in clinical practice.