Predicting a Response to Antibiotics in Patients with the Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Background Antibiotics for presumed small intestinal bacterial overgrowth have been shown to improve irritable bowel syndrome symptoms in at least 40 % of subjects. A lactulose breath test for small intestinal bacterial overgrowth has been used to select patients who will respond. However, its predictive value, using the classic definition of a positive lactulose breath test, has been disappointing.