Treating irritable bowel syndrome through an interdisciplinary approach

Abstract

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional disorder with a multifactorial etiology and a complex clinical picture. The recent discovery of the dysregulation of the gut-brain axis as an important pathogenetic mechanism for the development of IBS is a kind of breakthrough in the understanding of IBS and prevalent comorbidities. Nevertheless, IBS treatment still causes many problems and often turns out to be ineffective or brings only short-term effects in reducing symptom severity. In reference to the characteristics of IBS, including new findings regarding etiopathogenesis, an interdisciplinary treatment approach is proposed and the roles of medical and psychological interventions are underlined. The literature search was conducted using electronic databases with a focus on the latest publications. The review may be useful for matching the best strategy of IBS management.

Keywords Gut-brain axis, irritable bowel syndrome, management, psychotherapy, treatment

Ann Gastroenterol 2020; 33 (1): 1-8