Rome II: the Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders. Diagnosis, Pathophysiology and Treatment: a Multinational Consensus

Abstract

While medical students can confidently hold forth on the mechanisms of the Zollinger-Ellison syndrome, a condition affecting one in a million of the population, they rarely have much to say about functional GI disorders (FGIDs), which can affect up to a quarter of the population at some stage in their life. Part of the reason is that this is a complex area, which requires the integration of pathophysiology with psychology, and even sociology. FGIDs also suffer from having no objective measurable abnormalities, so that classifications must of necessity be symptom based. The Rome process is a valiant attempt to make this area of study less confused, more consistent, and scientifically respectable, As such, it undoubtedly has had a major impact, and Rome criteria are now used for the entry into most clinical trials and studies in this area. The senior chairman claims that this process has "done for functional gastrointestinal disorders what the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IIII) has done for psychiatry". While this may appear grandiose, I think it just might be true