Treatment of refractory irritable bowel syndrome with visceral osteopathy: short-term and long-term results of a randomized trial.

Objective: In light of the low efficiency of available drugs in treating irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), there has been a growing interest in its alternative therapies. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of visceral osteopathy for IBS.

Methods: In total, 31 consecutive refractory IBS patients were prospectively included in a randomized, crossover placebo-controlled study.