LETTER

The role of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor citalopram in irritable bowel syndrome

L A S van Kerkhoven¹, R J F Laheij¹, J B M J Jansen¹

¹ Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, the Netherlands

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Lieke van Kerkhoven
Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, PO Box 9101, 6500 HB Nijmegen, the Netherlands; L.vanKerkhoven@MDL.umcn.nl

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

We read with great interest the article by Tack et al on the effect of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) citalopram on symptoms in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) (Gut 2006;55:1095–103). The usefulness of the results of this study are however debatable. Several previous studies have investigated the effect of tricyclic antidepressants and SSRIs on functional gastrointestinal symptoms. Because of errors or lack of clarity in study design, inclusion of very selected patient populations and, above all, small sample sizes, their role in the treatment of patients with IBS in daily clinical practice remains unclear.

The study of Tack et al, as already correctly pointed out by Creed in his commentary (Gut 2006;55:1065–7), also suffers from major shortcomings in study design, poor description of study population and no information on whether or not subjects and physicians/investigators were blinded and, . . . [Full text of this article]

Lukas Van Oudenhove^2,*, Jan Tack²

² Department of Pathophysiology, Gastroenterology Division, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
J Tack
Department of Pathophysiology, Gastroenterology Division, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, University of Leuven, Leuven 3000, Belgium; jan.tack@med.kuleuven.be

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