SMALL-INTESTINAL DISEASE - IS ENDOSCOPIC BIOPSY THE ANSWER

Endoscopic biopsy of the canine and feline small intestine is becoming more widely available and is generally preferred to surgical biopsy. However, it has limitations which must be recognised if the appropriate interpretation of biopsy findings is to be made. Lack of histological changes in biopsy specimens is a frequent and often frustrating finding, until it is understood that it may reflect either the inevitable problem of examining only the proximal intestine or the fact that not all intestinal diseases are associated with morphological changes. Some newer advances in non-biopsy methods for investigating small intestinal disease are described.