Systematic review with meta‐analysis: post‐infectious functional dyspepsia

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of functional dyspepsia (FD) following infectious gastroenteritis has not been systematically reviewed. AIM: To conduct a systematic review and calculate the summary odds ratio (OR) for the development of FD following infectious gastroenteritis, as compared to a control population. METHODS: Published studies in PubMed, EmBASE, and Cochrane Database and abstracts from standard sources were screened for eligible studies. Data from studies meeting inclusion criteria were pooled for meta-analysis. RESULTS: Nineteen studies were eligible for inclusion. The mean prevalence of FD following acute gastroenteritis (AGE) was 9.55% (FD, n = 909; AGE, n = 9517) in adult populations. The summary OR for the development of post-infectious FD was 2.54 (95% CI = 1.76-3.65) at more than 6 months after AGE, as compared to the prevalence in controls within the same population. This is compared with the summary OR (3.51; 95% CI = 2.05-6.00) for the development of post-infectious irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in the same population at more than 6 months after AGE. There was significant statistical heterogeneity with an I(2) of 72.8% for the summary OR of post-infectious FD. Several pathogens, including Salmonella spp., Escherichia coli O157, Campylobacter jejuni, Giardia lamblia and Norovirus have been shown to be associated with post-infectious FD symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Infectious gastroenteritis is associated with an increased risk for subsequent dyspepsia as well as for irritable bowel syndrome. Post-infectious FD and post-infectious irritable bowel syndrome may represent different aspects of the same pathophysiology. Further studies will be needed to determine this.