National Institutes of Health
- The primary NIH organization for research on Small Intestine Disorders is the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
A service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine 
National Institutes of Health
Small Intestine Disorders
Your small intestine is the longest part of your digestive system - about twenty feet long! It connects your stomach to your large intestine (or colon) and folds many times to fit inside your abdomen. Your small intestine does most of the digesting of the foods you eat. It has three areas called the duodenum, the ileum, and the jejunum.
Problems with the small intestine can include:
- Bleeding
- Celiac disease
- Crohn's disease
- Infections
- Intestinal cancer
- Intestinal obstruction
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Ulcers, such as peptic ulcer
Treatment of disorders of the small intestine depends on the cause.
The top row in the table of contents box contains the following groups:
Basics
,
Learn More
, and
Multimedia & Cool Tools
.
For group Basics
For group Learn More
For group Multimedia & Cool Tools
The bottom row in the table of contents box contains the following groups:
Research
,
Reference Shelf
, and
For You
.
For group Research
For group Reference Shelf
For group For You
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Overviews
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Your Digestive System and How It Works(National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
- Also available in Spanish
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Your Digestive System and How It Works
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Diagnosis/Symptoms
- Fecal Occult Blood Test and Fecal Immunochemical Test(American Association for Clinical Chemistry)
- O&P (Ova and Parasite) Test(American Association for Clinical Chemistry)
- Small Bowel Bleeding and Capsule Endoscopy(American College of Gastroenterology)
- Also available in Spanish
- Stool Culture(American Association for Clinical Chemistry)
- Testing of the Small Intestine (Intestinal Dysmotility)(International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders)
- Understanding Capsule Endoscopy(American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy)
- Also available in Spanish
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Upper GI Endoscopy
(Patient Education Institute)
- Also available in Spanish
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Upper GI Series(National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
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Treatment
- Intestine and Multivisceral Transplants(Children's Hospital Boston)
- Meckel's diverticulectomy - slideshow
- Also available in Spanish
- Small bowel resection - slideshow
- Also available in Spanish
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Specific Conditions
- Blind Loop Syndrome(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
- Intestinal Malrotation(Nemours Foundation)
- Meckel's Diverticulum(American Academy of Family Physicians)
- Also available in Spanish
- Motility Disorders of the Small Intestine(International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders)
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Short Bowel Syndrome(National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
- Return to top
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Related Issues
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Bowel Diversion Surgeries: Ileostomy, Colostomy, Ileoanal Reservoir, and Continent Ileostomy(National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
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Bowel Diversion Surgeries: Ileostomy, Colostomy, Ileoanal Reservoir, and Continent Ileostomy
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Pictures & Photographs
- Atlas of Human Body: Digestive System(American Medical Association)
- Return to top
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Tutorials
- Upper GI Endoscopy(Patient Education Institute)
- Also available in Spanish
- Return to top
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Anatomy/Physiology
- Small Intestine(Merck & Co., Inc.)
- Return to top
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Clinical Trials
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Duodenal Diseases(National Institutes of Health)
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Ileal Diseases(National Institutes of Health)
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Jejunal Diseases(National Institutes of Health)
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Duodenal Diseases
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Journal Articles
References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
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Dictionaries/Glossaries
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Digestive Diseases Dictionary
(National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
- Also available in Spanish
- Return to top
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Digestive Diseases Dictionary
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Organizations
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Children
- Intestinal Atresia and Stenosis(Children's Hospital Boston)
- Intestinal Failure (Short Bowel Syndrome)(North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition) - PDF
- Also available in Spanish
- Necrotizing Enterocolitis(Nemours Foundation)
- Rare Infections: Yersinia Enterocolitica and Yersinia Pseudotuberculosis(American Academy of Pediatrics)
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Patient Handouts
- Culture - duodenal tissue biopsy
- Also available in Spanish
- Duodenal atresia
- Also available in Spanish
- EGD - esophagogastroduodenoscopy
- Also available in Spanish
- Enteritis
- Also available in Spanish
- Enteroclysis
- Also available in Spanish
- Enteroscopy
- Also available in Spanish
- Meckel's diverticulectomy
- Also available in Spanish
- Meckel's diverticulum
- Also available in Spanish
- Necrotizing enterocolitis
- Also available in Spanish
- Short bowel syndrome
- Also available in Spanish
- Small bowel bacterial overgrowth
- Also available in Spanish
- Small bowel resection
- Also available in Spanish
- Small bowel resection - discharge
- Also available in Spanish
- Upper GI and small bowel series
- Also available in Spanish
- Return to top
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You may also be interested in these related encyclopedia pages:
MEDICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA