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Disturbances of Pain Perception in Irritable Bowel Syndrome

  • Chapter
Pathophysiology of Pain Perception

Part of the book series: Plenum Series in Rehabilitation and Health ((SSRH))

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Abstract

The irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is one of the most common gastrointestinal disorders seen by physicians in the primary care setting, and is responsible for up to 40% of referrals to gastroenterologists (Drossman, Whitehead, & Camilleri, 1997). Although not a life-threatening illness, it can be disabling for the patient and quality of life is significantly impaired. Over the past 20 years, the focus of the diagnosis and treatment has shifted from the standpoint of IBS as a motility disorder to the more accepted view of IBS as a disorder of visceral hypersensitivity. Patients with this gastrointestinal disorder have been shown to have visceral hypersensitivity or decreased pain thresholds to distension of the gut, which is now considered a biological marker for IBS (Mertz, Naliboff, Munakata, Niazi, & Mayer, 1995). Patients with IBS also present with many extra intestinal symptoms such as backaches, migraine headaches, and muscle pain, all of which are consistent with a central hyperalgesic state (Mayer & Gebhart, 1994). Recent studies suggest that patients with IBS may have cutaneous hyperalgesia similar to that seen in patients with other chronic pain disorders such as fibromyalgia (Verne, Robinson, & Price, 2001). The latter two findings suggest that abnormalities of central nociceptive processing are also present in the irritable bowel syndrome.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA

    Christina R. Covelli & Donald D. Price

  2. Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA

    G. Nicholas Verne

Authors
  1. Christina R. Covelli
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  2. Donald D. Price
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  3. G. Nicholas Verne
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Bamberg, Bamberg, Germany

    Stefan Lautenbacher

  2. University of Florida College of Dentistry and Gainesville VA Medical Center, Gainesville, Florida, USA

    Roger B. Fillingim

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Covelli, C.R., Price, D.D., Nicholas Verne, G. (2004). Disturbances of Pain Perception in Irritable Bowel Syndrome. In: Lautenbacher, S., Fillingim, R.B. (eds) Pathophysiology of Pain Perception. Plenum Series in Rehabilitation and Health. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9068-6_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9068-6_8

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-4780-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-9068-6

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