RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Use and abuse of hydrogen breath tests
JF Gut
JO Gut
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and British Society of Gastroenterology
SP 297
OP 303
DO 10.1136/gut.2005.075127
VO 55
IS 3
A1 M Simrén
A1 P-O Stotzer
YR 2006
UL http://gut.bmj.com/content/55/3/297.1.abstract
AB Hydrogen breath tests are widely used to explore the pathophysiology of functional gastrointestinal disorders. Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth and carbohydrate malabsorption are disorders detected by these tests that have been proposed to be of great importance for symptoms in, for instance, irritable bowel syndrome. However, conclusions drawn from these studies are highly controversial and divergent results exist. There is also an extensive use of these tests in clinical practice with difficulties regarding interpretation of the tests and sometimes erroneous conclusions. The limitations and pitfalls of these tests will be reviewed in this article, and hopefully the occasional abuse of these tests can be turned into proper clinical and scientific use instead in the future.