This document presents the official recommendations of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) on the Evaluation and Management of Chronic Diarrhea. It was approved by the Clinical Practice and Practice Economics Committee on September 27, 1998, and by the AGA Governing Board on November 8, 1998.

It has been estimated that between 5 and 20 million children die each year as a result of acute and chronic diarrhea. The investigation of the pathogenesis and treatment of this major clinical problem is, therefore, of special importance, representing one of the most important challenges to medicine in the last decades of this century. Aspects of the pathophysiology of the clinical problem that...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the diagnostic yield of capsule endoscopy (CE) and its impact on treatment and outcome in patients without bleeding indications. SUBJECTS AND METHODS One hundred and sixty-five nonbleeding patients were enrolled in the study. The most common indications for CE were chronic abdominal pain alone (33 patients) or combined with chronic diarrhea (31 patients) and chronic diar...

Chronic diarrhea is a complex symptom. The clinical approach and management should be based on pathophysiologic considerations and stepwise laboratory investigations. In infants with severe malnutrition, nutritional support is a priority in the management of this condition.

Worldwide, the impact of acute diarrheal disease is immense and is particularly important in infants and young children. It has been estimated that each child experiences six to eight episodes of diarrhea per year in developing countries (1) and that this represents an annual mortality of up to 18 million children under 5 in those countries (2). Severe dehydration resulting from diarrhea occurs...