Pan-enteric dysmotility, impaired quality of life and alexithymia in a large group of patients meeting ROME II criteria for irritable bowel syndrome

Table 1 Patient characteristics in study group (mean ± SE)

	IBS	Healthy	P*
No of subjects	100	100
Female: Male ratio	73:27	70:30	NS
Age (yr)	48 ± 2	45 ± 2	NS
BMI (Kg/m2)	23.5 ± 0.4	22.9 ± 0.3	NS
Coffee-drinkers No (%)
None	43 (43%)	24 (24%)	0.03°
< 1 per day	9 (9%)	22 (22%)°
1-5 per day	48 (48%)	54 (54%)°
Smokers No (%)	30 (30%)	15 (15%)	0.02°
Lower abdominal	5.8 ± 0.1	0.04 ± 0.01	0.0001
pain (VAS, cm)
Abdominal bloating	6.2 ± 0.1	0.1 ± 0.02	0.0001
(VAS, cm)

*Student’s t test or χ² for comparison of proportions, VAS = visual analogue scale.

Table 2 Motility indices in study group (mean ± SE)

	IBS	Healthy	P*
No of subjects	100	100
Gallbladder (volume)
Fasting (mL)	21.4 ± 1.0	22.0 ± 0.9	NS
Postprandial residual,mL (%)	5.3 ± 0.6	5.7 ± 0.3	NS
	(23.4 ± 1.2)	(25.7 ± 0.9)
T50 (min.)	20.1 ± 0.9	21.4 ± 0.6	NS
Stomach (antral area)
Fasting (cm2)	3.1 ± 0.1	3.4 ± 0.1	NS
Postprandial maximal (cm2)	10.4 ± 0.2	11.8 ± 0.2	0.001
Postprandial minimal (%)	6.1 ± 1.0	2.8 ± 0.5	0.02
T50 (min.)	35.5 ± 1.0	26.1 ± 0.6	0.00001
Small bowel
Orocaecal transit time (min.)	161.9 ± 5.5	96.6 ± 1.8	0.00001

*Student’s t test, OCTT = orocaecal transit time, NS = not significant. Indices of gallbladder motility: fasting volume (mean of 3 measurements at -15, -5 and 0 min before test meal, ex-pressed in mL), residual volume (minimum volume measured postprandially, in mL) and half-emptying time (T₅₀, time to achieve 50% decrease of fasting volume). Indices of stomach emptying: fasting antral area (mean of 3 measurements at -15, -5 and 0 min before test meal, expressed in cm²), maximal antral area at 2 min postmeal in cm², minimal postprandial antral area during the 2-hour observation period (expressed in%, normalized to maximal area after subtracting basal areas: i.e. 100 × (A_t-a)/(A₂-a), where A_t = postprandial area at any given time; a = basal area; A₂ = area at 2 min postprandially[37]) and half-emptying time (T₅₀).