Fibromyalgia & musculoskeletal pain
Irritable bowel syndrome is related to small fibre pathology in patients with fibromyalgia
Authors' conclusion
IBS severity identifies a clinically more severe FM phenotype with small fibre pathology.
Study context
- Population
- Fibromyalgia (FM) patients assessed for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) severity (IBS Severity Scoring System (IBS-SSS)); skin biopsy with intraepidermal nerve fibre density (IENFD) at proximal and distal sites57 with skin biopsy
- Participants
- 89 patients
- Exposure
- Severe IBS vs mild-moderate IBS in FM
- Outcome
- Association of IBS severity (IBS-SSS) with clinical and psychological features and with small fibre involvement (IENFD)
Methodological detailsmonocentric, observational
- Monocentric
- Observational
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Severe IBS
47.1%
- Severe IBS: higher widespread pain index (WPI) and symptom severity scale (SSS) scores (greater FM severity), increased anxiety and depressive symptoms, reduced sleep duration, greater functional impairment vs mild-moderate IBS
- all p<0.05 after FDR correction
- Correlation of IBS-SSS scores with proximal IENFD (negative)
- r=−0.34, p=0.01
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Original publication
Irritable bowel syndrome is related to small fibre pathology in patients with fibromyalgia. Clin Exp Rheumatol. Published 22 June 2026. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →