Replying to Magda Upton 19/03/2023 - 05:43
Hey Magda!
I am pleased you enjoyed the session! Thank you for your brilliant questions!
I think fecal occult blood is a reasonable test to perform when you are suspicious of GI bleeding. I will often use it in patients who are anemic (with no other obvious cause) and do not have obvious melena. I think it is a helpful test! Capsule endoscopy is an interesting one! I must admit I have never used it clinically. However, I have always been lucky to have access to endoscopy. Some studies have demonstrated that it might pick up bleeding GI lesions with the reach of endoscopy. The big issue is that there is no option to take biopsies:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33993552/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31381197/
regarding biopsies. Most of the time for chronic enteropathies I will use endoscopic biopsies. I am more likely to do full-thickness biopsies in cats because we are often wanting to biopsy other organs too (liver and pancreas). I am not aware that it is possible to do GI biopsies laparoscopically. If full-thickness surgical biopsies are the only option, I think that is reasonable.
cPLI! It is a great question!!!! I agree! We will cover it more in another session. I often use it as a rule out, if it is normal, probably not pancreatitis. The US is considered helpful, but can also be ‘normal’ in the face of pancreatitis. So not a perfect test!
Hope that helps.
Scott
