Bile acid malabsorption in patients with an ileum reservoir with a long efferent leg to an anal anastomosis.

Biliary metabolism in 11 patients with ileum reservoirs with anal anastomosis and a long efferent leg was studied. Eleven healthy persons served as controls. A significantly higher excretion of bile acids was found in the patients, but they seemed to have a normal cholic acid pool size. The bile acids excreted were cholic acid and chenodeoxycholic acid, the so-called primary bile acids, for more than 90%, whereas the normal controls mainly excreted secondary bile acids (deoxycholic acid and lithocholic acid). Fat excretion was generally not increased in the group but was above normal in two patients. Vitamin B12 absorption was subnormal in two patients and was not correlated to bile acid excretion. Bile acid excretion was not correlated to the weight of feces. The bacterial flora was more feces-like than would have been expected from a normal terminal ileum but was correlated neither to the bile acid excretion nor to the quantity of feces. We conclude that the patients showed dysfunction of the terminal ileum with regard to biliary acid absorption comparable to that found in patients with partial ileal resections.