TY - JOUR
T1 - Irritable bowel syndrome
T2 - A test of the colonic hyperalgesia hypothesis
AU - Latimer, Paul
AU - Campbell, Dugal
AU - Latimer, Margaret
AU - Sarna, Sushil
AU - Daniel, Ed
AU - Waterfall, William
PY - 1979/9/1
Y1 - 1979/9/1
N2 - This study tested the hypothesis that, in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), there is a primary hyperalgesia of the colon. Previous work, which examined these patients and normals, has not included subjects who provide a control for relevant psychological characteristics. We compared ratings of pain, following varying degrees of distension of the sigmoid colon, in normals, patients with IBS, and patients who were psychologically disturbed but without bowel symptoms. Psychological characteristics were assessed by a psychiatric interview and psychometric inventories; response to distension was tested by placing a tube in the rectosigmoid colon and successively inflating and deflating a balloon at its tip at 10 cm3 increments up to 50 cm3. Ratings of pain were recorded at each volume. The results indicated that the two patient groups were psychologically similar and both were more disturbed than normals. A linear relation was found between reports of pain and volume of distension in all three groups. There were no significant differences between the proportions of subjects experiencing pain in each group or the average of the ratings. There were no significant associations between the pain ratings and measures of anxiety, depression, neuroticism, and extraversion. The data do not support the hypothesis that colonic hyperalgesia is an important contributory factor in the etiology of the irritable bowel syndrome.
AB - This study tested the hypothesis that, in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), there is a primary hyperalgesia of the colon. Previous work, which examined these patients and normals, has not included subjects who provide a control for relevant psychological characteristics. We compared ratings of pain, following varying degrees of distension of the sigmoid colon, in normals, patients with IBS, and patients who were psychologically disturbed but without bowel symptoms. Psychological characteristics were assessed by a psychiatric interview and psychometric inventories; response to distension was tested by placing a tube in the rectosigmoid colon and successively inflating and deflating a balloon at its tip at 10 cm3 increments up to 50 cm3. Ratings of pain were recorded at each volume. The results indicated that the two patient groups were psychologically similar and both were more disturbed than normals. A linear relation was found between reports of pain and volume of distension in all three groups. There were no significant differences between the proportions of subjects experiencing pain in each group or the average of the ratings. There were no significant associations between the pain ratings and measures of anxiety, depression, neuroticism, and extraversion. The data do not support the hypothesis that colonic hyperalgesia is an important contributory factor in the etiology of the irritable bowel syndrome.
KW - colonic hyperalgesia
KW - irritable bowel syndrome
KW - pain
KW - psychophysiological disorder
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U2 - 10.1007/BF00844925
DO - 10.1007/BF00844925
M3 - Article
C2 - 537039
AN - SCOPUS:0018598085
VL - 2
SP - 285
EP - 295
JO - Journal of Behavioral Medicine
JF - Journal of Behavioral Medicine
SN - 0160-7715
IS - 3
ER -