[Irritable bowel syndrome subtypes and characteristics in children from Panama, Ecuador,El Salvador, Nicaragua and Mexico].

Introduction: Few pediatric studies classify the irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) subtypes.

Objective: To describe the characteristics and subtypes of IBS in children from Panama, Ecuador, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Mexico.

Material And Methods: Prevalence study performed in children between 8 and 18 years of age with a diagnosis of IBS. The children answered the Questionnaire for Pediatric Gastrointestinal Symptoms Roma III for Schoolchildren and Adolescents (QPGS-III) to identify functional gastrointestinal disorders. Variables such as age and sex were taken into account. The subtypes of IBS were classified in IBS with constipation (IBS-c), with diarrhea (IBS-d), mixed (IBS-m) and without subtype (IBS-ss). Statistical analysis included measures of central tendency, two-tailed student t-test, chi-square test, and Fisher's exact test, with a significant p<0.05.

Results: We included 79 children (54.4% female, 12.1±2.1 years) presenting IBS-ss in 55.7%, IBS-c in 15.2%, IBS-m in 15.2% and SII-d in 13.9%. Severe pain predominated most of the day and with mucous stools; possible associations for IBS-d school and sex.

Conclusion: After IBS-ss, the IBS-e, IBS-d and IBS-m are similar, being the possible risk factors for IBS-d, the public school and the female gender.