No abstract

SUMMARY Thirty-seven patients undergoing routine investigation for malabsorption were given radio-opaque pellets (ROP) which were compared with polyethylene glycol and chromic oxide as continuous faecal markers. Percentage recovery of all markers showed a wide range. The recovery of all markers was very similar, and radio-opaque pellet-corrected daily faecal fat correlated very closely with PEG-and chromic oxide-corrected fat results. Estimation of ROP is precise, simple, and minimisesfaecal handling. ROP are suitable for routine use in faecal fat studies and have advantages over markers used at present.