Small Bowel

What is the small bowel?

The small bowel, also called the small intestine, ranges from 20 to 30 feet long and is about 1 inch in diameter. It has many folds that allow it to fit into the abdominal cavity. One end of the small bowel is connected to the stomach and the other to the large intestine.

The small intestine consists of 3 parts: the duodenum, the jejunum and the ileum. Partly digested food passes from the stomach to the small intestine, where the final digestive processes occur. Nutrients, vitamins, minerals and water are absorbed by its lining.

What is small bowel obstruction?
Small bowel obstruction is a partial or complete blockage of the small intestine. If the small bowel is functioning normally, digested products will continue to flow onward to the large intestine. An obstruction in the small bowel can partly or completely block contents from passing through. This causes waste matter and gases to build up in the portion above the blockage. It could also interfere with the absorption of nutrients and fluids.

How is small bowel obstruction diagnosed?

  • Capsule Endoscopy
  • Ileo - Cacal tuberculosis
  • IBD – Crohns
  • Small Bowel tumors
  • Small Bowel obstruction
  • Perforation of small bowel
  • Appendicectomy
  • Mackel’s Diverticulum
  • Mesenteric cyst
  • Malrotation of gut

Capsule Endoscopy

Capsule endoscopy is a procedure that uses a tiny wireless camera to take pictures of your digestive tract. A capsule endoscopy camera sits inside a vitamin-size capsule you swallow. As the capsule travels through your digestive tract, the camera takes thousands of pictures that are transmitted to a recorder you wear on a belt around your waist.

Capsule endoscopy helps doctors see inside your small intestine — an area that isn't easily reached with more-traditional endoscopy procedures. Traditional endoscopy involves passing a long, flexible tube equipped with a video camera down your throat or through your rectum.