What the Board granted and denied for irritable bowel syndrome

In the Board decisions we have indexed since 2019, veterans raised 4,779 issues about irritable bowel syndrome. Of the ones it decided, the Board granted 47 percent. It sent 44 percent of all these issues back for more work.

Every decision counted here is an appeal. The regional office decided the claim first, the veteran disagreed, and the Board is the next step after that. These are not the odds on a first claim.

Since 2019

123 were reopened for a fresh look, which is not a grant and is not counted as one. 287 were dismissed or withdrawn. 43 ended some other way, or we could not read the outcome.

Across every year we have indexed, that is 12,639 issues across 11,130 decisions, 40 percent granted of the ones decided, and 42 percent sent back for more work.

What a remand is

A remand is not a yes or a no. The Board sends the claim back to the regional office for more work, such as a new exam or a record that was not in the file. The claim is decided again later, and that later decision is a separate document.

What showed up in the decisions

Swipe the table sideways to see every column.

These are mentions in the written decision, not reasons for the outcome. A denied issue can mention a doctor's opinion just as a granted one does. Whether the opinion was for or against the claim, and the reasons it gave, are not something these counts can see. Each item is counted for the whole decision, so it may concern another issue decided in the same document.

Claimed together

A pair gets its own page once it appears at least 100 times and the Board decided at least 20 of them. Pairs below that are in the data but have no page.

Irritable bowel syndrome claimed as secondary to something else

• Irritable bowel syndrome secondary to PTSD

  Since 2019: 86 issues paired, 45 percent granted of the ones decided

• Irritable bowel syndrome secondary to depression or anxiety

  Since 2019: 59 issues paired, 53 percent granted of the ones decided

Five recent decisions about irritable bowel syndrome

• June 30, 2026Denied

  Entitlement to a rating higher than 30 percent for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) associated with hyperparathyroidism from February 12, 2024

  Read the decision at VA.gov
• June 24, 2026Granted

  Entitlement to service connection for a gastrointestinal condition (described variously as irritable bowel syndrome, irritable colon syndrome, diarrhea)

  Read the decision at VA.gov
• June 23, 2026Granted

  Entitlement to service connection for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)

  Read the decision at VA.gov
• June 11, 2026Denied

  Entitlement to service connection for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)

  Read the decision at VA.gov
• June 11, 2026Denied

  Entitlement to service connection for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), to include as due to service connected posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

  Read the decision at VA.gov

What this means for you

For these conditions the Board reads for the diagnosis first, then the link. A named diagnosis in a treatment record, with the test that supports it, is the floor. A list of symptoms with no diagnosis behind it leaves the Board with nothing to rate. The exception is the Gulf War rule, which also pays for signs and symptoms the tests cannot explain, and it names chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and irritable bowel syndrome as conditions it covers.

The link comes one of three ways. A doctor's opinion that ties the condition to service, or to another service-connected condition, with reasons. A presumption, when the condition and the service fit one of the lists in the rules. Or, when the condition is one the rules list as a chronic disease and it was noted in service, a record of the same symptoms running from service to now.

For a higher rating, the schedule is specific. Each of these conditions has its own list of findings, like blood pressure readings, lab values, or how many attacks a month. Bring the records that show the findings, not just the diagnosis.

Many of these conditions are claimed as secondary to another one. The claim needs a doctor to say the first condition led to the second, or made it worse, and to explain why. The reasons are what the claim rests on.