Pain is temporally related to eating but not to defaecation in the irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Patientsʼ description of diarrhoea, constipation and symptom variation during a prospective 6-week study

Abstract

Postprandial worsening of pain should be included as a criterion in the clinical definition of IBS while the criterion 'pain relieved by defaecation' should be re-evaluated. IBS patients can probably be divided into subgroups based on stool consistency, not frequency. Daily records are superior to structured clinical interviews or questionnaires for a detailed study of symptoms in IBS.