Health Dictionary
Reliable, easy-to-read patient information on common medical conditions — written in plain language, free of jargon, and grounded in current evidence. Browse the most frequent diagnoses, understand what they mean for everyday life, and learn which steps and questions help you have a focused conversation with your doctor.
Enteroclysis
Introduction
Enteroclysis , is a fluoroscopic X-ray of the small intestine. Radiocontrast is infused through a tube inserted through the nose to the duodenum, and images are taken in real time as the contrast moves through. Enteroclysis is also known by the confusing misnomer “Small bowel enema”.
It is the gold standard for evaluating small bowel diseases like Crohn’s. CT enteroclysis is now available which combines the advantages of CT (ample extraluminal infomation and visualization) and conventional enteroclysis (distension of small bowel for visualization). A report (Am J Roentgenol. 2005;185:1575-1581) suggested CT enteroclysis to be superior to conventional enteroclysis in evaluation of symptomatic Crohn’s disease, especially for the detection of fistula, abscess, skip lesions, lymphadenopathy, and conglomeration of small bowel loops.