Medical management of diseases of the small intestine

Issues in the medical management of small intestinal disease that were addressed in the recent scientific literature include the following: 1) bile acid malabsorption, including the etiologic role of an ileal brush-border bile salt carrier and the diagnostic value of the ⁷⁵Se homocholic acid taurine test; 2) small bowel bacterial overgrowth, including the role of bacteria in vitamin B12 malabsorption in atrophic gastritis and in pathogenesis of hepatobiliary complications; 3) short bowel syndrome, including the effects of somatostatin analogue therapy; 4) small intestinal tumors, including the diagnostic value of small bowel enteroscopy and plasma postheparin diamine oxidase measurements and therapy for carcinoid syndrome and primary intestinal lymphoma; 5) prevention and treatment of radiation enteropathy; and 6) pathogenesis and diagnosis of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug enteropathy.