Are biopsies from endoscopically normal terminal ileum necessary?

The terminal ileum is typically examined during colonoscopies, especially in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and diarrhea. The yield from performing biopsies of endoscopically normal appearing terminal ileum is less clear, and may be associated with greater costs, healthcare utilization and risk. We aimed to determine whether the biopsy results from endoscopically normal terminal ileum affect clinical management.

This was a retrospective chart review of patients who underwent an ileocolonoscopy with terminal ileum biopsy at a multisite tertiary healthcare system. Patients with a diagnosis of IBD, prior ileocecal resection, or endoscopically abnormal appearing terminal ileum were excluded. Clinical and laboratory data were obtained from the electronic medical record. Comparison between patients was performed using Pearson's chi-square test.

A total of 1018 consecutive patients were identified. Of the 299 who met the inclusion criteria, the majority were female (62.0%) and white (94.7%). Nearly 40% of the patients had a body mass index of 30 kg/m² or above (38.1%). Terminal ileum biopsies were abnormal in 13 patients (4.3%): 5 patients had chronic ileitis, 6 had acute ileitis, 1 had acute and chronic ileitis, and 1 had amyloid deposition. All patients with either chronic or acute ileitis had chronic diarrhea listed as an indication for their colonoscopy.

In patients with a normal appearing terminal ileum, clinically significant histologic abnormalities on biopsies were found in a very small percentage. Based on our findings, the routine biopsy of endoscopically normal appearing terminal ileum has limited diagnostic and therapeutic utility.