What is enteroscopy?
Enteroscopy is a diagnostic test to look inside the small intestine. It is performed by inserting an enteroscope through the mouth or anus, and can be used both as an observational test and to intervene the bowel for therapeutic purposes.
What does enteroscopy consist of?
The procedure consists of introducing an endoscope or enteroscope into the patient until it reaches the intestine. The entrance can be through the mouth or through the anus.
The enteroscope is a thin tube with a camera at the end that allows the Digestive System specialist to see the inside of the patient’s intestine. In double-balloon enteroscopy, the enteroscope includes an air balloon that is blown into the bowel to enlarge the area to be observed.
Enteroscopy allows the digestive specialist to observe the intestine through a monitor.
If necessary, the enteroscopy can extract a tissue sample by biopsy for laboratory analysis.
Why is it performed?
Enteroscopy is performed for the diagnosis of various pathologies of the small intestine, especially in cases of tumors, gastrointestinal bleeding or cases of diarrhea of unknown origin. It is also usually performed when abnormal results have been obtained in an imaging test (such as an X-ray) and the specialist seeks to clarify the diagnosis.
Preparing for enteroscopy
Before an enteroscopy, the patient cannot take products containing acetylsalicylic acid for one week prior to the test, nor can he/she consume solid food or dairy products after midnight on the day of the enteroscopy. Finally, the patient will have to fast for the test: he/she will not be able to eat or drink during the 4 to 8 hours prior to the test.
The patient should inform the specialist about the medications he/she is taking in order to know if they can influence the enteroscopy.
How do you feel during the examination?
Depending on the case, enteroscopy can be performed under local anesthesia with sedation or general anesthesia, so that the patient does not feel any discomfort.
After the examination, you may experience abdominal swelling and cramping due to air being pumped into the bowel during observation. These symptoms will subside normally over time.
What abnormal results mean
When enteroscopy results are abnormal, they can alert to multiple pathologies of the digestive tract. The most frequent are:
- Celiac disease
- Crohn’s disease
- Lymphomas
- Infectious gastroenteritis
- Giardiasis
- Amyloidosis
- Whipple’s disease
- Deficiencies of nutrients such as folate or vitamin B12