Small-bowel endoscopy.

Up-to-date, small-intestinal endoscopy has been developed along three main lines (a push-type fiberscope, a rope-way-type fiberscope, and a sonde-type fiberscope), and each fiberscope has both merits and demerits. We can observe small-intestinal diseases sufficiently, wherever they arise int he small intestine, with a suitable scope, chosen according to the shape of the lesions or the location in the small intestine. Now we have a basis for the correct diagnosis of small-intestinal diseases in using three types of fiberscopes. Further advances in recent enteroscopy are the application in pediatric enteroscopy, endoscopic surgery for polyps of the small intestine, magnifying enteroscopy and so on. Further problems in enteroscopy are how to utilize it for studies of pathophysiology of the small intestine and how to improve its technique to make it easier.