What’s new in functional and motility disorders in the lower GI tract?

Abstract

This review addresses what is new in functional and motility disorders in the lower gastrointestinal tract: biomarkers and actionable biomarkers in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), dietary and pharmacological treatment of abdominal pain in IBS, how to screen for rectal evacuation disorders in chronic constipation, hypotheses on the etiology of infantile colic, and lessons learned from the appraisal of an esoteric colonic motor disorder, that is, megacolon in association with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2B. Understanding the mechanisms has moved these from idiopathic or cryptogenic disorders to organic diseases and has changed the attitude of health care providers to empathize with the suffering and legitimate pleas of millions of patients for effective therapies.