Maldigestion

The concentration of pancreatic elastase in the stool allows conclusions about the exocrine pancreatic function. Non-specific symptoms, such as changing stools, upper abdominal discomfort, nausea, colic-like pain, feeling of fullness, meteorism, food intolerance, especially fat or oil, can be caused by exocrine pancreatic insufficiency.

The determination of bile acids in faeces is used, among other things, for the clarification of cholagenic diarrhoea. Bile acids are end products of the liver's cholesterol metabolism and are released into the duodenum together with the other components of bile, such as cholesterol, bilirubin, phospholipids and proteins. Important functions of bile acid are the elimination of cholesterol through the intestines, the absorption of fats and fat-soluble vitamins in the small intestine and the stimulation of intestinal motility. Most of the daily secreted bile acids are resorbed in the terminal ileum, which is fed to the liver via the portal vein and excreted again with the bile. This process, also known as enterohepatic circulation, causes only 3-5% of the bile acids to be excreted by stool every day. The term bile acid malabsorption syndrome is used when the bile acids in the ileum can no longer be recovered sufficiently for the body and are lost in the stool. Further indications occur after resection of the terminal ileum, Crohn's disease of the small intestine, radiation damage to the small intestine, condition following a cholecystectomy, coeliac disease, chronic pancreatitis and idiopathic bile acid diarrhoea.