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STEATORRHOEA

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Description

Steatorrhoea is the presence of excessive fat in the faeces. Increased amounts of faecal fat give it a grey colour and a greasy appearance which will leave an oily spot on paper it comes into contact with. In one study steatorrhoea has been defined as fat excretion in faeces in excess of 0.3g/Kg/day.


Causes
There are many causes of steatorrhoea including the following:

Maldigestion

Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency

Hepatobiliary disease

Liver failure
Cholestasis - intrahepatic; extrahepatic

Malabsorption

Inflammatory bowel disease
Small intestine cancer
Bacterial overgrowth
Lymphangiectasia

Other

Hyperthyroidism
Gastrinomas
Dumping syndromes
Unusually high dietary fat

This list has been adapted from "Small Animal Gastroenterology" by Strombeck and Guilford with the permission of Harcourt Brace Publishers. 

 

Last updated : October 2013

 
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