Clinical Algorithms Project

Developed by the Rome Foundation and published in the April 2010 issue of The American Journal of Gastroenterology, the new tool, Diagnostic Algorithms for Common Gastrointestinal Symptoms, provides an evidence-based approach to the diagnosis of functional gastrointestinal disorders, including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and functional dyspepsia, by providing diagnostic pathways for common symptoms such as abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, and constipation. These clinically meaningfully diagnostic algorithms are based on the consensus of numerous experts, use standard methods and yes-no decision trees, and all end in specific diagnoses, providing clinicians with the best diagnostic strategies currently available.

The Rome Foundation has for years recognized the limitations of the diagnostic criteria for functional GI disorders they developed known widely as "the Rome Criteria" - a standardized classification system for the functional GI disorders, which, until now, did not include a clinical application component. The new diagnostic tool is the result of a two-year collaborative process that incorporates symptoms-based criteria and other diagnostic information into clinical algorithms that can be easily understood and applied in the clinical setting.

The Rome Foundation gratefully acknowledges the Algorithm Project Sponsors, Procter & Gamble, Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Synergy, Takeda Pharmaceuticals and Zeria Pharmaceuticals.