Intraoperative enteroscopy in obscure gastrointestinal hemorrhage

Forty three patients were diagnosed to have obscure gastrointestinal hemorrhage (OGH) between January 1987 and April 1996. Pre-operative diagnostic investigations were useful in localizing the site of bleeding in 28 patients (65.1%). These included small bowel enema (n = 12), erythrocyte tagged scan (n = 8), Meckel's scan (n = 2) and selective visceral angiography (n = 7). Following complete evaluation all patients underwent exploratory laparotomy. At laparotomy 31 patients were found to have gross lesions. Intraoperative enteroscopy (IOE) could detect lesions in 9 of the remaining 12 patients.