Value of capsule endoscopy in the diagnosis of obscure gastrointestinal bleeding:an analysis of 107 cases

Objective To investigate the value of capsule endoscopy(CE) in the diagnosis of obscure gastrointestinal bleeding(OGIB) and the significance of the combined use of CE and double-balloon endoscopy(DBE) in etiological diagnosis.Methods One hundred and seven patients with OGIB 61 male/46 female,average age:(51.6±18.9) years were enrolled in this study.CE was performed with Given M2A video capsule system.After being examined by the CE,and according to the results obtained from the CE,36 patients had undergone DBE and/or operative exploration.Results Among the 107 patients,106(99.1%) had completed the CE examination successfully.The endoscopic capsule passed the ileal valve in 75 cases(70.8%).The detecting rate and diagnostic yield were 89.7%(n=96) and 65.4%(n=70),respectively.Of the 36 patients performed DBE and /or operative exploration after CE,26(72.2%) patients had their diagnosis similar to that diagnosed by CE.Capsule retention occurred in 2(1.9%) patients.Conclusions In OGIB,CE could provide a high diagnostic yield.It may be used as the first choice of diagnostic screening device in OGIB.CE when combined with DBE can increase the diagnostic yield of small bowel disease.