The role of enteroclysis in the diagnosis of unexplained gastrointestinal symptoms: a prospective assessment.

The purpose of this prospective study performed at a non-university hospital was to assess the role of enteroclysis in the diagnosis of unexplained gastrointestinal symptoms such as abdominal pain, gastrointestinal bleeding, and chronic diarrhea done following inconclusive imaging or endoscopic procedures. 184 consecutive patients were subjected to enteroclysis over 25 months. 84 (46%) had abdominal pain, 52 (28%) gastrointestinal bleeding, and 48 (26%) chronic diarrhea. Findings were categorized as normal and abnormal (subdivided into main, i.e., explanatory of symptoms; and secondary, i.e., not explanatory of symptoms). Main findings were further divided into those exclusively detected by enteroclysis and those confirmed by this procedure. Normal enteroclysis investigations were obtained in 159 (86%) patients and abnormal in 25 (14%). Main findings were present in 19 (10%) patients, in ten (5%) of them exclusively detected by enteroclysis. Secondary findings were present in six (3%) patients, also detected only by enteroclysis. The highest rate of main findings exclusively detected by enteroclysis related to patients with chronic diarrhea (8%), compared with 6% and 2% with abdominal pain and gastrointestinal bleeding, respectively. For the inspection of the small bowel, enteroclysis shall remain the gold standard for detecting abnormal findings in the small bowel until user-friendly enteroscopes are developed.