Bloating

Bloating is a bothersome complaint that is commonly reported to physicians; it ranks second only to abdominal pain in frequency of complaints to physicians [1]. It is estimated that around 11% of the general population report frequent bloating [2], while in another study, 31% of patients met the Rome I criteria for functional bloating [3]. In fact, 90% of patients with a diagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) will report symptoms of bloating [4]. Unfortunately, bloating is a nonspecific term that relates to the patient’s subjective sensation of their abdominal distention, fullness, or excessive gas and the physician’s objective determination of identifiable abdominal distention [5]. Furthermore, abdominal bloating is present in multiple functional abdominal disorders, which include both non-emergent and emergent processes. The Rome IV criteria for function abdominal bloating and distension include the following: symptoms of recurrent abdominal bloating and distension occurring at least 1 day per week; the bloating predominates over other symptoms; the symptoms must start at least 6 months prior to diagnosis and symptoms must occur at least once weekly for the past 3 months; they should not meet criteria for IBS, functional constipation, functional diarrhea, or post-prandial distress syndrome [6].