The Rome III criteria are more sensitive and practical in diagnosing IBS. IBS-D is the most frequent subtype, which is followed by IBS-U, IBS-C and IBS-M. IBS-U is a new subtype, which warrants further studies.

Type II is more common in untreated Chinese achalasia patients, and type II patients had better treatment outcomes than other types of patients. Large-sample multicenter trials are necessary in the future.

The study provides detailed overlap spectra of upper FGID with IBS. Mixed IBS is an important risk factor for IBS-FD overlap, which deserved more concern.

Stent implantation using the rendezvous technique of PTBD and ERCP is a new and feasible method to treat obstructive jaundice after initially unsuccessful ERCP. This may be of considerable value in clinical practice.

Patients with IBS-D have a higher incidence of MT-ATP 6 and 8 polymorphisms than healthy subjects, implying that the mtDNA polymorphism may play a role in IBS-D.