What are the indications for enteroclysis (small bowel enema)?
Small bowel enemas are difficult to perform and often are uncomfortable for the patient. They are superior, however, to small bowel follow-through examination for showing short lesions and the valvulae conniventes. Indications include the following:
- • Unexplained anemia or GI bleeding; a patient should have a normal upper or lower endoscopy or normal double-contrast upper GI study and barium enema before enteroclysis.
- • Malabsorption.
- • Demonstration of skip lesions in a patient with known Crohn’s disease.
- • Suspected tumor of any kind.
