Diagnostic yield and therapeutic impact of the double-balloon enteroscopy in patients with small intestinal disease

Objective To evaluate the diagnostic and therapeutic role and complications of double-balloon enteroscopy (DBE) in small bowel disease.Methods During December 2005 to July 2007,a total of thirty-seven patients with suspected small intestinal disease underwent consecutive DBE procedures.Twenty-five of these patients were suffering from obscure gastrointestinal bleeding.Results The lesions in small bowel were detected in twenty-nine out of the thirty-seven patients.The overall diagnostic yield was 78.4%.These disorders include small bowel tumors,Crohn’s diseases,Angiodysplasia,ulcerations,small intestinal diverticulums,duplication malformations of small bowel and anaphylaxis ileitis.24 of the 29 patients were certified by biopsy or further interventions with the accuracy rate of 95.8%.Severe DBE-associated complication occurred in only one of the thirty-seven patients with a rate of 2.7%.This patient approached via mouth had a complication of acute pancreatitis.Conclusion DBE appears to have a high diagnostic yield and therapeutic impact in patient with small bowel disease.