Breath hydrogen test in infants and children with blind loop syndrome.

Breath hydrogen production after oral lactose loading was examined in infants and children with stagnant loop syndrome, blind loop syndrome, or both. All six infants under 3 years of age had bacteriological evidence of small intestinal colonization. The characteristics of the breath hydrogen test in this syndrome are: (a) extremely high basal excretion of breath hydrogen (after overnight fasting); (b) an earlier and greater breath hydrogen value (0.293 +/- 0.201 ml/min/m2: mean +/- SD) after oral lactose administration than formed in lactose malabsorption alone (0.050 +/- 0.041 ml/min/m2); and (c) the observation of a sustained hydrogen rise over several hours. This investigation demonstrated that the breath hydrogen test is a promising and noninvasive tool for diagnosing blind (or stagnant) loop syndrome.