Exam Overview
Medical and dietary history
To determine whether
your symptoms meet the
criteria for diagnosing
(IBS), your doctor may ask
you questions about:
- Recent stressful events in your life. Stress
may be a strong indication that your symptoms may be caused by irritable bowel
syndrome.
- Bowel function, including how many bowel movements you
have per day or per week, whether you have constipation or diarrhea, whether
you have noticed any blood or mucus in your stool, and any recent changes in
your bowel habits or the shape of your stools.
- Whether your bowel
movement patterns have any relationship to your abdominal pain (for example, if
passing a stool relieves the pain and cramping).
- Family history of
similar symptoms.
- Family relationships that may be causing
stress.
- Your use of laxatives or antacids.
- Factors that
may increase your risk of an intestinal infection, such as foreign travel,
drinking untreated water, or recent antibiotic use.
The dietary history will include questions about food
allergies and whether your symptoms seem to be related to any particular foods.
Foods that most commonly cause symptoms include lactose (milk sugar) and
sorbitol, an artificial sweetener found in sugarless chewing gum and other
sugar-free products.
The doctor may suggest that for a period of
time you try avoiding foods that seem to cause problems, to see if your
symptoms get better.
Physical exam
To help determine whether you have
irritable bowel syndrome, the doctor will perform a standard physical
examination, including:
- Feeling the abdomen.
- A digital
rectal exam.
- Listening for bowel sounds (with a
stethoscope).
- A routine pelvic exam (in women).
Why It Is Done
A medical history and physical
examination are standard tests for people who have abdominal pain and changes
in bowel habits.
Results
Key findings in IBS are abdominal pain that
is relieved with a bowel movement and a change in the consistency or number of
times per day or week that you have bowel movements. The pain is not limited to
one part of the abdomen. It may move around and may come and go. It often
occurs or gets worse when you eat. Stress may also be related to abdominal
pain.
The abdomen may be swollen if you have gas in the
intestines. Your abdomen may be tender when the doctor presses on it. Abnormal
bowel sounds may be heard, especially, but not only, if you have diarrhea. You
may report symptoms such as an urgent need to have bowel movements or a feeling
that you haven't completely emptied the bowel after passing a stool.