Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth: duodenal aspiration vs. glucose breath test

Dudodenal aspiration is the gold standard test for determining small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO).  It is not often used because it is very invasive (requiring endoscopy exam of the small intestine) and is very expensive.  Recently a study was conducted to compare the glucose hydrogen breath test with duodenal aspirations.  The research concluded that glucose breath test has lower sensitivity than duodenal aspirations but good specificity for detection of SIBO.  In conclusion, the researchers stated that hydrogen breath tests should be considered first in patients with suspected SIBO.

Ref: Neurogastroenterol Motil 2015 Jan 19   http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25600077