Symbolic dynamics of jejunal motility in the irritable bowel

Different studies of the irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) by conventional ana lysis of jejunal motility report conflicting results. Therefore, our aim is to quantify the jejunal contraction activity by symbolic dynamics in order to discriminate between IBS and control subjects. Contraction amplitudes d uring fasting motility (phase II) are analyzed for 30 IBS and 30 healthy su bjects. On the basis of a particular scale-independent discretization of th e contraction amplitudes with respect to the median, IBS patients are chara cterized by increased block entropy as well as increased mean contraction a mplitude. In a further more elementary level of analysis these differences can be reduced to specific contraction patterns within the time series, nam ely the fact that successive large contraction amplitudes are less ordered in IBS than in controls. These significant differences in jejunal motility may point to an altered control of the gut in IBS, although further studies on a representative number of patients have to be done for a validation of these findings. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S1054-1500(99)006 03-5].