Characterization of the bacterial makeup and quantitative distribution in patients with suspected small intestine bacterial overgrowth (SIBO): A meta-analysis
Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) is a clinical condition associated with abnormally high bacterial counts in the small intestine and clinical features such as diarrhea, constipation, abdominal pain, and bloating.
Current methods for sampling the gut make it difficult for healthcare providers to accurately diagnose and monitor SIBO. Even after diagnosis, drug therapy presents a number of challenges, including achieving the most effective therapeutic dose at the site of disease.
A meta-analysis of studies of endoscopic samples from patients with suspected SIBO was performed to estimate the distribution of bacterial colony forming units (CFU), and a review was performed to identify the bacterial populations in these patients.
What did we find?
Using the standard diagnostic threshold of 105 CFU, only 24% of patients with suspected SIBO would test positive.
Lowering the standard threshold to 104 CFU yielded 33% of patients with suspected SIBO testing positive.
As expected, bacterial culture identification was unable to clearly distinguish a single contributing organism.
There is consensus that novel tools are needed for evaluating patients with suspected SIBO.1
Poster presented at the American College of Gastroenterology Annual Scientific Meeting, October 25–30, 2019
References
- Lee NS, Stylli J, Kelly C, et al. Characterization of the bacterial makeup and quantitative distribution in patients with suspected SIBO: A meta-analysis. Poster presented at ACG, 2019. San Antonio, Texas.