Prevalence and Characteristics of Abdominal Pain in the United States.

Background & Aims: Abdominal pain is the most common gastrointestinal symptom reported in ambulatory clinics, but little is known about its prevalence and burden of illness in the general community. We conducted a population-based survey to determine the epidemiology, clinical characteristics, and healthcare-seeking behavior of persons with abdominal pain.

Methods: Using an online survey research firm, we recruited a representative sample of adults (18 years or older) with a history of abdominal pain.

Breath Test Gas Patterns in Inflammatory Bowel Disease with Concomitant Irritable Bowel Syndrome-Like Symptoms: A Controlled Large-Scale Database Linkage Analysis.

Introduction: Breath testing (BT) has gained interest for diagnosing small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) in IBD patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) overlap. We aim to characterize the rate of SIBO and BT gas patterns in IBD patients with IBS-like symptoms compared to non-IBD patients.

Methods: A database of 14,847 consecutive lactulose BTs was developed from patients with IBS-like symptoms between November 2005 and October 2013.