Bowel sounds

A stomach rumble, also known as a bowel sound or peristaltic sound, is a rumbling, growling or gurgling noise produced by movement of the contents of the gastro-intestinal tract as they are propelled through the small intestine by a series of muscle contractions called peristalsis. A doctor or nurse can listen to these intestinal noises with a stethoscope but they may be loud enough to be heard with bare ears and are known as stomach rumble or borborygmus (pronounced /ˌbɔːrbəˈrɪɡməs/; plural borborygmi) as the fluid and gas moves forward in the intestines (in the vicinity of but not actually within the stomach). The lack of bowel sounds is indicative of ileus, intestinal obstruction, or some other serious pathology.

The scientific name borborygmus is related to the 16th-century French word borborygme, itself from Latin, ultimately from Ancient Greek βορβορυγμός (borborygmós). The Greeks probably onomatopoetically coined the word.

Other causes of stomach rumbles:

If symptoms are minimal, treat by:

Avoid foods such as beans and peas along with coarse grains and dried fruits. Limiting consumption of coffee, tea, and alcohol is recommended.

The word borborygmic has been used in literature to describe noisy plumbing. In Ada, Vladimir Nabokov wrote: "All the toilets and waterpipes in the house had been suddenly seized with borborygmic convulsions". In A Long Way Down (New York: Harper, 1959, p. 54), Elizabeth Fenwick wrote: "The room was very quiet, except for its borborygmic old radiator".Graham Greene's short story "Alas, Poor Maling" tells the tale of a luckless individual whose borborygmus takes the form of irritating noises that he has recently heard.

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