[Therapy of functional abdominal ailments (author's transl)]

About 50% of patients seen by the gastroenterologist do not have any objective pathological signs and symptoms. These conditions thus can be diagnosed only on the basis of the patient's history. Thus the case history becomes very important for therapy as well. Questions about eating habits, intolerance for certain foods, defecation habits, meteorism and flatulence have to be asked. Concurrence of other ailments, psychovegetative symptoms, and psychological stress factors have to be evaluated as well as the effects of the medication taken before. It is very important to inform the patient about the mechanism of his troubles, which are usually harmless but frighten the patients concerned nevertheless. Therapy includes elimination of adverse factors; beyond that it is only symptomatic. Some hints are given concerning symptomatic treatment of the most frequent functional gastrointestinal ailments, which are not always psychogenic in origin, but which may be influenced by psychological means as well as by symptomatic therapy.