Question:
The differentiating feature between irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and organic gastrointestinal disease is:
The differentiating feature between irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and organic gastrointestinal disease is:
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Look for the only option that is an objective marker of mucosal inflammation, not a shared symptom.
Updated On: Jun 23, 2026
- Diarrhea
- Stool calprotectin
- Abdominal pain
- Mucus in stools
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The Correct Option is B
Solution and Explanation
Step 1: Frame the problem. IBS is a functional disorder, while organic disease like inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) involves true gut inflammation. The symptoms overlap heavily.
Step 2: Why symptoms do not separate them. Diarrhea, abdominal pain, and mucus in stool occur in both IBS and organic disease, so none of these can reliably tell them apart.
Step 3: The discriminator. Faecal calprotectin is a protein released from neutrophils during mucosal inflammation. It is raised in organic inflammatory disease (IBD) and stays low or normal in IBS. This makes stool calprotectin the objective marker that separates the two.
Step 4: Clinical use. A normal calprotectin reassures against IBD and supports a functional diagnosis, guiding whether endoscopy and therapy are needed. So the answer is stool calprotectin. Ref: Sleisenger and Fordtran's Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease, 11e.
Step 2: Why symptoms do not separate them. Diarrhea, abdominal pain, and mucus in stool occur in both IBS and organic disease, so none of these can reliably tell them apart.
Step 3: The discriminator. Faecal calprotectin is a protein released from neutrophils during mucosal inflammation. It is raised in organic inflammatory disease (IBD) and stays low or normal in IBS. This makes stool calprotectin the objective marker that separates the two.
Step 4: Clinical use. A normal calprotectin reassures against IBD and supports a functional diagnosis, guiding whether endoscopy and therapy are needed. So the answer is stool calprotectin. Ref: Sleisenger and Fordtran's Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease, 11e.
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