Abdominal pain is a common complaint and reason for primary consultation.1 Organic causes usually are differentiated in patients with abdominal pain and treatment is administered in accordance with the causes; however, in many cases, patients have functional disorders with no obvious abnormal findings obtained with many routine diagnostic tests.2 In primary care, about half of the patients seen with abdominal complaints have functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGID); the most common FGID being irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) that is characterized by abdominal pain or discomfort and alteration of bowel habits in the absence of an organic disorder. The quality of life of patients with chronic FGID is far worse than in the general population, and is even significantly lower than in patients with many other chronic illnesses.