Motility disorders, functional gastrointestinal disorders, inflammatory bowel disease and cardiac rhythm disturbances - is there a link? Review of literature.

Gastrointestinal disorders are frequently accompanied by symptoms exceeding gastrointestinal tract. This is at least partially connected with the involvement of autonomic nervous system in pathophysiology of diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or spectrum of motility disorders. In light of the above, involvement of cardiovascular system in natural history of gastrointestinal disorders seems to be of interest. On the other hand, available data regarding the prevalence of cardiac rhythm disturbances in IBD, IBS and motility disorders is limited. What is more, pharmacotherapy of the mentioned diseases includes drugs with possible arrhythmogenic potential. In this review we present current experiences and observations concerning gastrointestinal disorders and cardiac rhythm disturbances.