Amitriptyline modifies the visceral hypersensitivity response to acute stress in the irritable bowel syndrome

BACKGROUND

Acute physical stress causes alteration in gut autonomic function and visceral hypersensitivity in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). We have developed a model to measure this stress response.

AIM

To assess whether treatment with a drug effective in treating IBS (amitriptyline) alters the response to acute stress in IBS patients.

METHODS

Nineteen patients with IBS were given amitriptyline 25-50 mg. Patients underwent physical stress (cold pressor) test at baseline and after 3 months of treatment. Physiological parameters measured were: stress perception; systemic autonomic tone [heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP)]; gut specific autonomic innervation [rectal mucosal blood flow (RMBF)] and visceral sensitivity (rectal electrosensitivity).

RESULTS

Fourteen of 19 (74%) patients improved symptomatically after 3 months of amitriptyline. Acute stress induced increased perception of stress and systemic autonomic tone and reduced RMBF in symptomatic responders and nonresponders (P > 0.05 for all). All nonresponders but only 3 of 14 responders continued to exhibit stress-induced reduced pain threshold at 3 months (change from baseline -31% vs. +2%, P < 0.03 respectively).

CONCLUSION

In this open study, amitriptyline appears to decrease stress-induced electrical hypersensitivity; this effect is independent of autonomic tone. The gut response to acute stress deserves further study as a model to study drug efficacy in IBS.

IgA multiple myeloma presenting as non-obstructive jaundice

Multiple myeloma can occasionally present with jaundice. The underlying process may be pancreatic head myeloma infiltration causing obstructive jaundice or hepatic amyloid deposition resulting in cholestatic jaundice. A rare case of myeloma presenting as jaundice due to hepatic myeloma infiltration is reported.

Referral patterns to a district general hospital gastroenterology outpatient clinic: implications for the 'two-week target'

We defined the pattern and appropriateness of GPs' new-patient referrals to a large district general hospital gastroenterology department, and assessed the implications for workload in the context of the recently introduced 'two-week target'. Prospective data were collected on all new referrals over a two-month period and 426 new appointments were included, from which data were available on 390. Only six referrals were deemed inappropriate. Sixty-nine patients had a functional disorder, and GPs were less likely to diagnose this group at referral than the gastroenterologist was after the initial consultation. Nineteen per cent of all GP referrals were classified as urgent and 6% of these had a malignancy. Fifty per cent of patients with malignancy were not perceived as meriting an urgent referral by the GP Gastroenterology outpatient facilities are already overstretched and the implementation of the two-week target will add considerable strain to the current resources, with little gain in identifying malignancy.