The adult small bowel is about 6 m in length. The technique push enteroscopy uses instruments in the range of 220 to 250 cm but usually only about 150 cm of small bowel can be seen. (Evaluation of obscure gastrointestinal bleeding. UptoDate. 2008.)
Another procedure is Sonde enteroscopy. A fiberoptic cable allows observation of 50-75% of the small bowel; not often performed because it takes several hours to perform, causes patient discomfort, and does not have any other capabilities aside from transmitting images. (Small intestine. Schwart's Principles of Surgery, 8th ed. In AccessSurgery. 1/15/2009)
