Irritable bowel syndrome in patients discharged from surgical wards with non-specific abdominal pain

A questionnaire was used to discover the prevalence of seven recognized symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in 96 patients who had been discharged from hospital 1-2 years previously with the diagnosis of non-specific abdominal pain. Compared with 1897 controls from a population survey in the same city, the patients were more likely to have these symptoms; the differences were statistically significant in most cases. The frequency of recurrent abdominal pain with features suggesting an intestinal origin was increased fivefold in male and fourfold in female patients (P < 0.001). Criteria for the diagnosis of IBS were present in 37 per cent of women and 19 per cent of men, versus 5 and 2 per cent respectively in controls (P < 0.001). Approximately half the patients remembered having symptoms of IBS at the time of admission and 70 per cent had had other attacks of abdominal pain. At the time of admission, the hospital notes mentioned the possibility of IBS in only 6 per cent of cases. Most patients would have welcomed an explanation for the pain at the time of their hospital admission.