 The enterohepatic circulation of bile acids is reduced in these patients with ileal abnormalities and, as the normal bile acid retention exceeds 95%, only a small degree of change is needed.Bile acid malabsorption can also be secondary to cholecystectomy, vagotomy and other disorders affecting intestinal motility or digestion such as radiation enteritis, celiac disease, and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth.A similar picture of chronic diarrhea, an abnormal SeHCAT retention and a response to bile acid sequestrants, in the absence of other disorders of the intestine, is characteristic of idiopathic bile acid malabsorption – also called primary bile acid diarrhea.