Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Functional Dyspepsia After Acute Infectious Gastroenteritis

Many studies have documented that irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) sometimes follows an episode of acute gastroenteritis caused by bacterial, viral, or parasitic pathogens. A smaller body of literature suggests a similar link between acute gastroenteritis and functional dyspepsia (FD). In this meta-analysis of 47 observational studies (28,000 patients), researchers estimated the prevalence of IBS and FD at >3 months after an episode of acute gastroenteritis. Forty-six studies reported prevalence of IBS, and 14 reported prevalence of FD. Most studies classified these disorders according to various iterations of the Rome criteria.

The overall prevalence of postinfectious IBS was 14.5%. In 22 case-control studies, the odds ratio for the associati…