Disaccharidase testing and clinical outcomes: a retrospective study.

Area of Science:

• Gastroenterology
• Digestive Health
• Clinical Diagnostics

Background:

• Many gastrointestinal symptoms like abdominal pain, diarrhea, and bloating lack clear causes despite evaluations.
• Disaccharidase deficiency is an often-overlooked cause of these persistent digestive issues.
• This study investigates disaccharidase testing's role in managing unexplained gastrointestinal symptoms.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the effectiveness of disaccharidase testing in guiding treatment for adults with unexplained gastrointestinal symptoms.
• To determine if identifying disaccharidase deficiencies improves clinical outcomes.
• To evaluate the prevalence of disaccharidase deficiencies in symptomatic patients.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective cohort study of adult patients undergoing esophagogastroduodenoscopy and disaccharidase testing.
• Exclusion of patients with pancreatitis, inflammatory bowel disease, and celiac disease.
• Fisher's exact test used to analyze the association between interventions and symptom improvement.

Main Results:

• 88.1% of 67 eligible patients had at least one disaccharidase deficiency.
• Among patients with abnormal test results, 88.1% reported symptom improvement after intervention, versus 50% with normal results.
• A significant association was found between interventions and symptom improvement (P=0.01) and between abnormal results and improvement (P=0.02).

Conclusions:

• Targeted treatment based on identified disaccharidase deficiencies significantly improves gastrointestinal symptom resolution.
• The high prevalence of deficiencies suggests routine disaccharidase testing during endoscopy for unexplained GI symptoms could be beneficial.
• Disaccharidase testing offers a valuable diagnostic and therapeutic strategy for elusive gastrointestinal conditions.