Enteroscopy

Your healthcare physician may order this test to diagnose diseases of the small intestine. They may ask you to undergo this test in any of the following situations:

• Unexplained bleeding in the stomach or intestines
• Initial diagnosis of Crohn’s disease (long-term inflammation of the digestive tract)
• Tumours in the small intestine
• Unexplained diarrhoea
• Abnormal X-ray results
• To treat people whose small intestine has been identified as the source of bleeding

You need to be on an empty stomach for this procedure. Hence, your doctor may ask you to avoid eating or drinking (including water) for approximately 12 hours before the procedure. Talk to your doctor to know when to start fasting.

Tell your healthcare provider about any supplements and medications (including over-the-counter drugs) that you take, especially the ones containing aspirin, iron or bismuth subsalicylate products. He/she may adjust the dose of certain medications that you are already on.

A nurse will take you to the procedure room where your pulse, blood pressure and oxygen levels will be monitored. The nurse will administer a sedative that may make you drowsy or they will give you anaesthesia that will put you to sleep. Your doctor will then insert the endoscope via your mouth or anus and advance it to your small intestine using X-ray guidance. He/she may use tools such as forceps, heat probes or other devices to treat the part of the bowel that is accessible. The test usually takes up to two hours.

The side effects commonly associated with the procedure include:

• Nausea or vomiting
• Sore throat
• Bloating or cramping

Complications associated with the procedure are: 

• Tear through the bowel wall
• Bleeding at the site of biopsy
• Swelling of the pancreas
• Reaction to a sedative

Normal results:

Normally, your doctor will not find any source of bleeding, tumours or other abnormalities in your small intestine.

Abnormal results:

Abnormal results may show up as:

• Abnormalities in the tissue lining the wall of the small intestine
• Abnormal length of blood vessels in the small intestine
• Polyps or cancer
• Swollen lymph nodes (structures containing cells that fight infection)
• Presence of a particular immune cell called PAS-positive macrophages
• Radiation enteritis (damage to small intestine due to radiation)
• Ulcers

An abnormal result may indicate any of the following conditions or diseases:

• Coeliac sprue (a disease where your immune cells damage the small intestine)
• Vitamin B12 deficiency
• Infectious gastroenteritis (infection in the digestive system)
• Lymphoma 
• Small intestinal cancer
• Whipple disease (an infectious intestinal condition that prevents absorption of certain nutrients from food)
• Amyloidosis (a condition where an excess of a certain protein called amyloid collects in body organs, affecting their normal functioning)
• Crohn’s disease
• Giardiasis (diarrhoea caused by the parasite Giardia)
• Small intestinal angioectasia (abnormal blood vessels in the small intestine)
• Tropical sprue (a rare digestive disease affecting the absorption of nutrients from food)

Disclaimer: All results must be clinically correlated with the patient’s complaints to make a complete and accurate diagnosis. The above information is provided from a purely educational point of view and is in no way a substitute for medical advice by a qualified doctor.