[The diagnostic value and risks of small bowel biopsy: an assessment in 80 patients (author's transl)].

Small bowel biopsy is a routine procedure used mainly in the evaluation of malabsorption. The Crosby-Kugler capsule, which permits the performance of just one biopsy per session and hydraulic biopsy tubes, permitting multiple biopsies from any level of the small bowel, have been in use now with several modifications for about 20 years. The diagnostic range and risks of these tools are described briefly in this paper and discussed in the light of our own experience in 80 patients. In accordance with the experience of others, we found that small bowel biopsy was accompanied by only a few minor complications and we consider it a valuable procedure in clinical diagnosis and experimental research.