The scattering by slightly inhomogeneous objects has been studied by a first-order method and reciprocity theorem. The scattering calculation reported in this manuscript is based on a simple computation of the field in a defectless structure at different incidence angles. The numerical results have been compared to those given by an exact calculation. It is shown that the method enables to handle complex structures with an affordable computational burden. A major advantage of the method is its ability to treat different defects without recomputing the field, i.e, the main part of the computation time. In addition, for defects in periodic structures, the field computation can be limited to a single period thus leading to an important decrease of the computational time and required memory. This method is believed to provide significant advantages for the engineering of optical devices.