The role of fecal markers in the investigation of patients with chronic diarrhea.

Chronic diarrhea often presents a dilemma for a practicing clinician as to whether an endoscopic evaluation would be necessary. The current application of colonoscopy-for-most approach increases the burden on the endoscopy services and is associated with higher costs. Therefore, there is a need for newer tools which are cost-effective, less invasive, and easily accessible, in order to triage patients referred for endoscopic evaluation. In this context, fecal markers are becoming considered as triage tools in clinical practice. Emerging evidence in support of their high performance will certainly influence future practice.