Double balloon enteroscopy in diagnosis of small bowel Crohn’s disease

Objective To evaluate the diagnostic efficiency of double-balloon enteroscopy in small bowel Crohn’s disease. Methods In sixty five patients with suspected small bowel Crohn's disease double-balloon enteroscopy were performed, and some of them received enteroscopy and enteroclysis, capsule endoscopy as well.Results The first enteroscopy was performed via mouth in 20 of 65 cases, and the lesions were detected in 11 cases (55%), 5 of 9 cases(55.6%) had lesions detected in enteroscopy via anus while nothing was found in mouth route. Among 45 cases examed by enteroscopy firstly via anus, 34 cases had lesions detected (75.6%), 8 of 11 cases(72.7%) had lesions found in following exam via mouth. Totally 58of 65 had lesions detected through enterosocpy examination, the overall diagnostic yield was 89.2%. Twenty four of 46 cases had positive findings with enteroclysis. The diagnosis of Crohn's disease was comfirmed in 14 of 22 patients(63.6%) underwent capsule endoscoy. The diagnosis was finally confirmed by enteroscopy only in 11 patients(78.6%).Conclusion The entire small intestine could be examined by enteroscopy with combination of mouth and anus route. Double-balloon enteroscopy was an ideal diagnostic modality for small bowel Crohn's diseases, which was also valuable in assessment on extent and severity of the disease. Small bowel enteroclysis was a useful screening alternative for selecting procedure route in DBE.