Nutrient drink test: A promising new tool for irritable bowel syndrome diagnosis

BACKGROUND Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a highly prevalent condition. It is diagnosed on the basis of chronic symptoms after the clinical and/or investigative exclusion of organic diseases that can cause similar symptoms. There is no reproducible non-invasive test for the diagnosis of IBS, and this raises diagnostic uncertainty among physicians and hinders acceptance of the diagnosis by patients. Functional gastrointestinal (GI) syndromes often present with overlapping upper and lower GI tract symptoms, now believed to be generated by visceral hypersensitivity. This study examines the possibility that, in IBS, a nutrient drink test (NDT) provokes GI symptoms that allow a positive differentiation of these patients from healthy subjects.