Open-label treatment with citalopram in patients with irritable bowel syndrome: a pilot study.
BACKGROUND
This open-label pilot study investigated whether the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) citalopram improves symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a functional gastrointestinal disorder with frequent psychiatric comorbidity.


METHODS
Fifteen patients meeting Rome I criteria for IBS were administered open-label citalopram (20-40 mg/day) for 12 weeks. The study was conducted from October 2000 to August 2001.


RESULTS
Twelve (80%) of the 15 subjects reported a > or = 50% decrease in the presence of abdominal pain, 10 (67%) reported a > or = 50% reduction in the severity of the symptom, and 12 (80%) reported a > or = 50% reduction in the frequency of the symptom. Approximately one half of the patients met criteria for remission (> or = 70% improvement) of abdominal pain.


CONCLUSIONS
Results of this pilot study suggest that large controlled trials are needed to further evaluate the efficacy of SSRIs such as citalopram for the treatment of IBS.
Masand
Prakash S
PS
Department of Psychiatry, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA. pmasand@pyschme.net
Gupta
Sanjay
S
Schwartz
Thomas L
TL
Virk
Subhdeep
S
Hameed
Ahmad
A
Kaplan
David S
DS