Abstract

Objective: Approximately 10-20% of the general population has irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and IBS patients usually suffer from chronic gastritis (CG), hemorrhoids (H), and urolithiasis (U).

Material and Methods: We randomly chose consecutive patients with upper abdominal discomfort. All possible causes of IBS including celiac sprue, giardiasis, lactose intolerance, and cholelithiasis were investigated. U was diagnosed either by medical history or as a result of laboratory findings.

Results: IBS patients (51) and patients without IBS (70) were studied. CG was diagnosed in 78.4% (40) of IBS cases, whereas this ratio was 50.0% (35) in cases without IBS (p<0.001). Similarly, H was detected in 33.3% (17) of IBS cases, but it was only detected in 15.7% (11) of cases without IBS (p<0.05). Additionally, U was detected in 17.6% (9) of IBS cases and in 5.7% (4) of cases without IBS (p<0.05).

Conclusion: Relationships between IBS and CG, H, and U are significant. IBS is a cascade of many physiologic events that is initiated by infection, inflammation, and psychological disturbances like many stresses, and this eventually terminates with gut dysfunction. Gastric acid is probably not involved in the etiology of IBS, but psychological factors also seem to be important in CG. The significant association between CG and IBS also support this hypothesis. Therefore, we believe CG is one of terminating points of the physiologic cascade of events in IBS. Bearing these associations in mind will be helpful during prevention, treatment, and follow up of these disorders, especially in internal medicine, urology, and general surgery polyclinics and primary health centers.