Overview of Gastrointestinal Symptoms

Upper gastrointestinal (GI) complaints include

• Chest pain

• Chronic and recurrent abdominal pain

• Dyspepsia

• Dysphagia

• Lump in the throat

• Halitosis

• Hiccups

• Nausea and vomiting

• Rumination

Some upper GI complaints represent functional illness (ie, no physiologic cause found after extensive evaluation).

Lower GI complaints include

• Constipation

• Diarrhea

• Gas and bloating

• Abdominal pain

• Rectal pain or bleeding

As with upper GI complaints, lower GI complaints result from physiologic illness or represent a functional disorder (ie, no radiologic, biochemical, or pathologic abnormalities are found even after extensive evaluation). The reasons for functional symptoms are not clear. Evidence suggests that patients with functional symptoms may have disturbances of motility, nociception, or both; ie, they perceive as uncomfortable certain sensations (eg, luminal distention, peristalsis) that other people do not find distressing.