BREATH HYDROGEN TESTING IN SMALL ANIMAL PRACTICE

Breath hydrogen testing has become a widely used clinical method for d iagnosing carbohydrate malabsorption and small intestinal bacterial ov ergrowth and for estimating orocolic transit time in human patients. T he test is inexpensive, simple to perform, noninvasive, and well toler ated by patients. During the past decade, veterinarians have used brea th hydrogen testing with promising results. The test provides semiquan titative information on the degree of malassimilation, which, in turn, assists interpretation of the clinical significance of intestinal bio psies. The technique complements more commonly used diagnostic procedu res, such as endoscopic biopsy, because it assists the diagnosis of di sorders of gastrointestinal transit and subcellular deficits overlooke d by histologic examination of small intestinal biopsy specimens. How the test is performed (including a discussion of how expired air is co llected, stored, and analyzed). the necessary equipment, the test subs trates used, the indications for the test, how to interpret test resul ts, and developing a specific reference range for the technique are di scussed in this article.