The ileocecal area and the irritable bowel syndrome.

Greater understanding of the physiology of the ICJ allows exploration of how these mechanisms are deranged in disease processes. Studies must be expanded to different subgroups of patients with IBS to learn more of the pharmacologic control of these functions, and to integrate motor, transit, secretory, and absorptive functions. Lying at the gateway between the predominantly absorptive regions of the small intestine and the storage and excretory regions of the colon, the ICJ may be important in the pathophysiology of pain, bloating, and altered bowel movements in patients with IBS.