Radiation Enteritis

Diagnosis

Mayo Clinic doctors start with a complete medical history and physical examination. This exam may be enough to diagnose radiation enteritis.

Mayo doctors also use these tests to look for intestinal damage:

• Endoscopy. This test inspects the upper part of the small intestine.
• Colonoscopy. This test inspects your lower small intestine.
• Capsule endoscopy. You swallow a small pill that contains a video camera, which transmits images of your small intestine to a recording device. Capsule endoscopy can image problems in the small intestine's lining that aren't visible in other tests.
• CT enterography. Mayo researchers helped develop this noninvasive test, which is more sensitive than conventional imaging for finding abnormalities in the intestines.

Read more about endoscopy and colonoscopy.