Psychological treatments are increasingly being used to help patients with the irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), but the efficacy of such treatments is still debated. This review indicates that there are three ways in which they might have been effective in published studies to date; relating bowel symptoms to stress, specific help with psychosocial problems/relationships and relaxation to decrease anxiety and tension. A close doctor-patient relationship is regarded as central to these therapeutic tasks but the time required to maximise the effectiveness of this therapeutic role means that intensive psychological treatment should be reserved for those IBS patients who do not respond to first line standard medical treatment. There are insufficient data to indicate at present which patients are best suited to each form of psychological treatment.

Ever since its description approximately 100 years ago, the sphincter of Oddi has been surrounded by controversy. First, whether it indeed existed, second, whether it had a significant physiological role in man and more recently whether abnormalities in its function give rise to a clinical syndrome. Data from animal and human studies, using sensitive techniques, have helped define the physiological role of the sphincter of Oddi, and more recent studies are determining the factors which control sphincter of Oddi function. These studies support Oddi's original description that the sphincter has a major role in the control of flow of bile and pancreatic juice into the duodenum, and equally importantly helps prevent the reflux of duodenal contents into the biliary and pancreatic ductal systems. The controversy of whether abnormalities in sphincter of Oddi motility result in clinical syndromes has not been totally resolved. Part of the difficulty has been inability to document normal and hence abnormal function of the sphincter. With the emergence of endoscopic biliary manometry as a sensitive and reproducible technique, however, the motility of the human sphincter of Oddi has come under closer scrutiny and allowed definition of possible disorders. We have used the term sphincter of Oddi dysfunction to define manometric abnormalities in patients who present with signs and symptoms consistent with a biliary or pancreatic ductal origin. Based on the manometry, we have subdivided the dysfunction into two groups; a group characterised by a stenotic pattern - that is, raised sphincter basal pressure - and a second group having a dyskinetic pattern - that is, paradoxical response to cholecystokinin injection, rapid contraction frequency, high percentage of retrograde contractions, or short periods of raised basal percentage of retrograde contractions, or short periods of raised basal pressure. It is apparent from the mamometry but also from the clinical data that the patients are a heterogeneous group and thus any therapy would need to be tailored for each patient and abnormality. The most recent therapeutic data suggest that patients with the stenotic pattern on manometry respond to division of the sphincter, however, those patients with the dyskinetic manometric pattern show no significant effect after sphincterotomy. Further prospective trials evaluating therapeutic options are under way and their results are eagerly awaited.

The recent launch of a number of fibre enriched polymeric diet in the United States and Europe has stimulated considerable interest in the topic of fibre and enteral nutrition, and several commercial concerns appear to be under considerable pressures from their consumers to produce similar products. As a means of identifying areas of potential application of fibre to enteral nutrition some of the recent knowledge gained about the physical properties of dietary fibre and the processes involved in the intestinal assimilation of fibre has been reviewed. Two areas of interest are identifiable. The first relates to the bulking properties of fibre and the application of this to the regulation of bowel function in enterally fed patients. It is clear from the clinical studies that have been reviewed that there remains a paucity of controlled data, and a great deal more research is needed before widespread use of fibre supplemented diets can be supported. Perhaps of greater interest academically is the potentially beneficial effects that appear to be exerted by the VFA's, liberated as a consequence of colonic bacterial fermentation of fibre, on morphology and function of ileal and colonic mucosa. Although there are a number of potential applications of fibre supplemented enteral diets in this area, more research is required before any firm recommendations can be made about recommending their use. The one exception concerns patients with the nutritionally inadequate short bowel syndrome. There does seem to be sufficient experimental evidence to suggest that clinical studies should be commenced using a pectin supplemented predigested 'elemental' diet in these patients. Overall therefore, one is forced to conclude that the increasing interest and use of fibre supplemented enteral diets is being driven more by market than scientific forces. Nevertheless, the promotion of these diets has already provided a powerful stimulus to the scientific community, and it remains entirely possible that many of the potential applications of these diets will be realised in the near future.