Evaluation of evidence-based medicine on drug therapy of irritable bowel syndrome

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional bowel disorder with abnormal gastrointestinal motility and sensitivity. The prevalence of IBS is high,but the mechanism is still unknown. It is considered to be associated with abnormal gastrointestinal motility,visceral hypersensitivity,abnormal brain-gut axis and psychology disorder. There are many drugs treating IBS available that are mainly targeted to manage individual symptoms and improve quality of life. There are also more and more clinical trials evaluating drug therapy of IBS. The aim of this review is to assess efficacy and safety of IBS pharmacological treatments which included antispasmodics,laxatives,anti-diarrhoeal agents,serotonergic agents,probiotics and antidepressant. The clinical data are mainly from clinical trials,systematic reviews and meta-analysis.