a condition of stasis of the small intestine allowing the overgrowth of bacteria, which causes malabsorption and the passage of fatty stools (see steatorrhoea). It is usually the result of chronic obstruction (resulting, for example, from Crohn's disease, a stricture, or intestinal tuberculosis), or surgical bypass operations producing a stagnant length of bowel, or conditions (e.g. a jejunal diverticulum) in which a segment of intestine is out of continuity with the rest.
Medical dictionary. 2011.