Acute Abdominal Pain in Irritable Bowel Syndrome Patients: Not Always an Acute Exacerbation

Excerpt

We read with interest the case report by Wildi et al. [1] published in the June 2006 issue of the Digestive Diseases and Sciences. The authors highlighted an important aspect of managing chronic conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Like many clinicians looking after IBS patients, when these patients present with abdominal complaints, the first thought is often that it is an exacerbation of the underlying bowel disorder. The majority of the time, these assumptions are correct. However, the clinician has to be alert and always consider the possibility of other pathologies, even though the clinical presentations are suggestive of IBS exacerbations. We similarly encountered a case of known IBS who presented with abdominal pain that turned out to have a surgical etiology. …