NEW YORK (Reuters Health), Sep 5 - Capsule endoscopy leads to significant findings in the majority of patients who underwent the procedure because of obscure gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding, Spanish researchers report in the August issue of the European Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
Dr. Emilio Estevez of Complexo Hospitario Juan Canalejo, Corunna and colleagues note that the approach allows complete examination of the bowel via transmitted video images. The method has proved superior to push enteroscopy and radiography in detecting significant lesions in patients with obscure GI bleeding.
To further evaluate the diagnostic utility of approach, the investigator studied 100 patients with a mean age of just over 64 years. Slightly more than half had obscure-overt and the remainder had obscure-occult bleeding.
Overall mean recording time was around 12 hours and the mean small bowel transit time was about four and a half hours. Capsule retention was experienced by one patient who required surgery for its removal.
There were significant finding in 68% of the 95 patients who were followed-up. The most common diagnosis, as has been the case in other such studies, was angiodysplasias which were seen in 33.8% of patients.
The most important factor predicting significant results was that patients had previously needed 1 or more transfusions (odds ratio, 4.5).
Overall, as a result of the findings, a specific intervention was made in 75.8% of the patients. After a mean follow-up of almost a year, the clinical outcome was considered positive in 71.6% of patients.
The researchers conclude that capsule endoscopy is "a useful well tolerated form of exploration" that saves time, avoids less productive investigation and benefits a large proportion of patients.
Last Updated: 2006-09-04 13:20:09 -0400 (Reuters Health)
Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol 2006;18:881-888.
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