[Positive diagnosis of irritable colon: a scored chart or standardized anamnesis?]

The diagnostic score of Kruis to diagnose the irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) has recently gained widespread application. We therefore evaluated the case histories of 373 patients attending the gastroenterological outpatient department retrospectively using the questionnaire of these authors. In contrast to Kruis et al's findings, by applying their discriminating score the diagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome was made in only 51% of the patients who underwent complete gastrointestinal survey without pathological findings. However, the group of IBS was significantly separable from malignant or inflammatory disease. We therefore conclude that the diagnosis of IBS should only be made by ruling out organic disease (except in the case of young people with normal physical and laboratory check up findings and a good response to treatment). For these patients we simplified the questionnaire, omitting calculations.