Diagnosis small bowel malabsorption syndromes in adults

Patients with malabsorption represent a small proportion of presentations with chronic diarrhea. In spite of some progress, the last twenty years were not very innovating in malabsorption inves- tigations. Supporting history may direct investigations toward either the small bowel or pancreas. Serological testing for celiac disease will determine most cases without invasive investigation, but individuals suspected to have small bowel malabsorption, despite negative celiac serology, should have endoscopic distal duo- denal biopsies taken to exclude other rare forms of small bowel enteropathy. This strategy has largely supplanted many older tests of small bowel function. (Acta gastroenterol. belg., 2006, 69, 31-37).