Bile Acid Diarrhea

Abstract Bile acid diarrhea, or bile acid malabsorption, is a syndrome of chronic watery diarrhea. It can be diagnosed by measuring fecal bile acids or by the SeHCAT (selenium-homocholic acid taurine) test. Symptoms usually respond to bile acid sequestrants. Bile acid diarrhea may be secondary to ileal resection or Crohn's disease, affecting the enterohepatic circulation of bile acids, and is often recognized after cholecystectomy. Primary bile acid diarrhea (PBAD) is a common condition affecting approximately 1% of the population and has no definitive cause. PBAD is under-diagnosed, but accounts for around 30% of IBS-diarrhea, with a large associated burden of disease.