Tools for examining the small intestine – methods for examining the small intestine are divided into four main groups.
The first group includes tests for structural abnormalities of the small intestine(small bowel follow-through, abdominal X-ray, double-contrast small bowel X-ray, abdominal ultrasound, abdominal CT/MRI, isotope methods, fibre-optic examinations /push enteroscopy, intraoperative enteroscopy and double-balloon enteroscopy/, and small bowel capsule endoscopy).
The second group comprises tests of how the small intestinefunctions. These include the so-called oral load tests (sugar absorption tests, iron loading test), breath tests (sugar absorption tests) and isotope methods (fat absorption tests, vitamin B12 absorption test, bile acid absorption test).
The third group comprises laboratory tests of blood and stool samples.
The fourth group comprises histological examination of the small intestinetissue (fibre-optic sampling, biopsy capsule).
