Evaluation of individual symptoms cannot predict presence of gastric hypersensitivity in functional dyspepsia

Recently, the concept of gastric hypersensitivity was introduced as an impo rtant factor in the pathophysiology of functional dyspepsia (FD), but it is unclear which symptoms can predict the presence of gastric hypersensitivit y. Therefore, we evaluated the relationship between common symptoms of FD a nd various parameters measured by gastric barostat in FD patients. Gastric barostat tests were performed in 64 FD patients and 20 healthy control subj ects without gastrointestinal symptoms. Individual symptoms such as early s atiety, postprandial fullness, sense of delayed emptying, nausea, vomiting, and epigastric soreness were collected and graded as mild to severe. Basal tone, gastric compliance, and postprandial receptive relaxation were simil ar in controls and patients, the threshold of abdominal discomfort was lowe r in FD patients than in controls (8.9 +/- 3.6 mm Hg and 14.5 +/- 3.7 mm Hg , respectively, P < 0.05). However, there were no significant differences i n the threshold of abdominal discomfort according to the severity of indivi dual symptoms. In conclusion, a simple evaluation of individual symptoms co uld not predict the presence of gastric hypersensitivity.