Bile-Salt Deficiency in the Steatorrhea Following Resection of the Ileum and Proximal Colon

Abstract

STEATORRHEA is common in patients who have had all or part of the ileum removed. Originally, investigators assumed that this was because fat absorption occurred mainly in the ileum.¹ In 1957, when Borgström et al.² demonstrated that over 90 per cent of fat was absorbed in the duodenum and proximal jejunum, a different explanation was required.In 1964 Borgström, Lundh and Hofmann³ demonstrated that the ileum was the principal site of bile-salt absorption in man. A year later, Playoust, Lack and Weiner⁴ showed that steatorrhea produced in dogs by resection of the ileum was accompanied by a greatly shortened sodium . . .