Intestinal gas dynamics: mechanisms and clinical relevance

Patients with functional gut disorders, irritable bowel disease, and related syndromes frequently attribute their symptoms to intestinal gas. While patients are usually convinced of their interpretation, the doctor has few arguments to confirm or refute it, and in this context intestinal gas has become a myth. Studies of intestinal gas dynamics have demonstrated subtle dysfunctions in intestinal motility. Hopefully, extension of these studies may help both in the classification of patients complaining of gas symptoms based on pathophysiological mechanisms, and in identification of objective markers to test mechanistically oriented treatment options.