Irritable bowel syndrome

By Mayo Clinic Staff
Oct. 11, 2024

Irritable bowel syndrome care at Mayo Clinic

Your Mayo Clinic care team

Doctors trained in digestive diseases (gastroenterologists) evaluate and treat people who have IBS at Mayo Clinic. Specialists in the Motility Clinic are frequently involved in care. These physicians have special training in conditions involving the movement of food through the digestive system (motility).

Mayo Clinic specialists in physical medicine and rehabilitation provide detailed programs of biofeedback to treat constipation and diarrhea. The Motility Clinic also works closely with Mayo Clinic psychologists to evaluate and treat people with IBS who might benefit from counseling and help with chronic pain.

Nurses with special training in IBS teach a daily class for people with the condition, with input from registered dietitians, behavioral psychologists and physical therapists.

Having all of this specialized expertise in a single place, focused on you, means that you're not just getting one opinion — care is talked about among the team, appointments are scheduled in coordination, and highly specialized IBS experts are all working together to determine what's best for you.

Advanced diagnosis and treatment

Mayo Clinic specialists use several tests, some of them developed at Mayo Clinic, to assess the functioning of your digestive system.

Depending on your symptoms, your Mayo Clinic specialist might recommend:

  • Gastrointestinal transit study (scintigraphy), to assess the movement of food through your digestive tract.
  • Anorectal function testing, to measure the coordination of the muscles you use to move your bowels.
  • Defecography, to obtain images of muscles you use when passing stool.
  • Dynamic pelvic floor MRI, to identify any problems in your pelvic floor muscles.
  • Screening for celiac disease, gluten sensitivity without celiac disease, bacterial overgrowth, lactose and sugar intolerance, and bile acid malabsorption.

Expertise and rankings

Experience

Each year, Mayo Clinic doctors diagnose and treat around 4,000 people with IBS. The subspecialists in the Motility Clinic are skilled in distinguishing IBS from other disorders, and recommending highly focused therapeutic approaches to meet your needs.

Research leader

For years, Mayo Clinic researchers have conducted clinical trials involving IBS and digestive diseases. People treated at Mayo are among the first to benefit from new findings made at Mayo Clinic.

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