[Endoscopic biopsy of the small intestine in children].

As from 1983, endoscopy with biopsy in general anesthesia was used instead of the capsule suction method in children with suspected coeliac disease in a county hospital. A study was carried out to evaluate mean endoscopy time, duration of general anesthesia, complications and quality of biopsies. An ordinary Olympus GIF-Q endoscope (diameter 11 mm) was used in 17 patients, eight boys and nine girls. Mean age was 5.9 years (range 11 months-14 years). Mean endoscopy time was 5.3 min. and of duration of general anesthesia 13.6 min. No serious complications such as perforation or bleeding were recorded. All the biopsies that were taken were considered representative. In coeliac disease the method is time-sparing, less harmful to the children, provides representative biopsies and gives fewer complications.