ABSTRACT
The current treatment of visceral pain associated, for instance, with functional bowel disorders (FBDs) such as functional dyspepsia and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is unsatisfactory. Therapeutic advances are badly needed in view of the high prevalence of chronic or recurrent visceral pain and its socioeconomic burden as outlined in Chapters I/1 and I/2. This gap in the pharmacologic management of visceral pain reflects the incomplete understanding of the underlying mechanisms, which lags behind the knowledge of somatic pain mechanisms. In addition, the utility of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and opiates, which are the mainstay in somatic pain management, is limited by their severe adverse effects on gastrointestinal (GI) mucosal homeostasis andmotility, respectively. Although progress in the use of opioid and nonopioid drugs for the treatment of abdominal pain is being made (see Chapters III/18 and III/19), there is clearly a need to identify new targets for visceral pain therapy.
