The American journal of gastroenterology
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Am. J. Gastroenterol. · Mar 2015
Review Meta AnalysisA meta-analysis of the utility of C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, fecal calprotectin, and fecal lactoferrin to exclude inflammatory bowel disease in adults with IBS.
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is viewed as a diagnosis of exclusion by most providers. The aim of our study was to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the utility of C-reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), fecal calprotectin, and fecal lactoferrin to distinguish between patients with IBS and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and healthy controls (HCs). ⋯ CRP and calprotectin of ≤0.5 or 40, respectively, essentially excludes IBD in patients with IBS symptoms. The addition of CRP and calprotectin to symptom-based criteria may improve the confident diagnosis of IBS.