Serum protein electrophoresis: an underused but very useful test.

Serum protein electrophoresis is used in clinical practice to identify patients with multiple myeloma and other serum protein disorders. It is an inexpensive and easy-to-perform screening procedure. Electrophoresis separates serum proteins based on their physical properties and identifies morphologic patterns in response to acute and chronic inflammation, various malignancies, liver or renal failure, and hereditary protein disorders. For gastroenterologists, the use of serum protein electrophoresis may be helpful in the diagnosis of both common diseases with unusual presentations and rare disorders with typical presentations. Therefore, it represents an ideal screening tool.