Relevance of gastrointestinal motor disturbances in functional dyspepsia.
Gastrointestinal motor abnormalities are frequent findings in patients with functional dyspepsia. However, these abnormalities are rather non-specific and seem to be restricted to a proportion of patients. Furthermore, they are not necessarily time-linked to symptom perception. The relationship of digestive motor derangements and symptoms in functional dyspepsia remains, therefore, unsettled. A variety of methodological and conceptual shortcomings characterize many of the studies investigating the relationship between gastrointestinal motility disorders and dyspeptic symptoms, and this obviously contributes to a higher level of uncertainty in the field. Recent reports suggest that gastrointestinal dysmotility is associated with perception of some dyspeptic symptoms, at least in a subset of patients. Well-conducted studies using appropriate methodology are needed to verify whether gastrointestinal motor disorders play a causal role in functional dyspepsia and whether this is of clinical relevance.
Stanghellini
V
V
Department of Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology, University of Bologna, Italy.
Corinaldesi
R
R
Tosetti
C
C
D004415:Dyspepsia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005769:Gastrointestinal Motility / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans