Fecal Elastase

Elastase helps break down fats, carbohydrates, and proteins so your body can use them for energy, growth, and repairing cells.

If little or no elastase is found in your stool, it can mean that your pancreas can't make and/or release enough elastase and other digestive juices. This is called exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. Your provider will look at this test along with your symptoms and other lab results to decide what the result means for you.

Fecal elastase results are usually grouped into ranges that help show how well your pancreas is making digestive enzymes.

When the level stays above roughly 200 mcg/g, the result is considered normal and exocrine pancreatic insufficiency is unlikely.

A result somewhere between about 100 and 200 mcg/g falls in a middle zone that can fit with moderate pancreatic insufficiency. Your provider will weigh this together with your symptoms, weight changes, and other lab work to decide what to do next.

When the level drops below about 100 mcg/g, the picture fits exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. Treatment is usually pancreatic enzyme replacement capsules taken with meals.

The test is more reliable for picking up severe pancreatic insufficiency than mild cases. Watery stools can also dilute the sample and lower the result, which sometimes leads to a false-positive in people with diarrhea who don't actually have a pancreas problem.

Your provider will look at your fecal elastase result along with your symptoms (such as oily or floating stools, weight loss, or bloating) and other test results.