3.9　Fecal Fat Analysis

The reference method for diagnosis of steatorrhea is quantitative measurement of fecal fat excretion over 72 h during ingestion of a diet containing 100 g fat per day.Under these circumstances，a fecal fat excretion of more than 7 g/day fat is abnormal（Safdi et al.2006）.Often，fecal fat excretion seen in chronic pancreatitis is much higher（＞20 g/day）.Due to its numerous disadvantages including non-specificity for pancreatic disease，need for prolonged abstinence from pancreatic enzyme preparations and unpleasant sampling，storage and mixing of stool，it is no longer performed for clinical reasons in most centers（Keller and Layer 2015）.Sudan staining of a random stool sample for fecal fat can be used alternatively but is relatively insensitive for fat malabsorption（Lieb and Draganov 2008）.(https://www.daowen.com)