Radiological examination of the small bowel

A retrospective study was made of 100 consecutive dedicated per-oral small bowel examinations. 33% of the studies were abnormal, of which almost half were due to Crohn's disease. When grouped according to clinical suspicion, 73.5% of those studies with a high index of clinical suspicion were abnormal. In the abnormal group a correct diagnosis was made in 90%, with two false positives. In the normal group a correct diagnosis was made in 91%, with no false negatives. It is suggested that the dedicated small bowel series offers a justifiable and practical alternative to other techniques such as intubation and direct infusion of contrast medium into the small bowel, or enteroclysis.