Double-balloon enteroscopy in elderly patients: is it safe and useful?

Area of Science:

• Gastroenterology
• Endoscopy
• Geriatric Medicine

Background:

• Double-balloon enteroscopy (DBE) is underutilized in the elderly due to perceived risks associated with comorbidities.
• Limited data exist on the safety and efficacy of DBE in older populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the safety and efficacy of double-balloon enteroscopy (DBE) in patients aged 65 years and older compared to younger patients.
• To evaluate diagnostic yield and therapeutic success rates of DBE in the elderly.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of 218 DBE procedures in 158 patients.
• Patients categorized into elderly (≥65 years) and younger (<65 years) groups.
• Comparison of indications, findings, interventions, diagnostic yield, therapeutic success, and complication rates.

Main Results:

• Obscure gastrointestinal bleeding was the primary indication in both groups.
• Elderly patients showed a higher likelihood of receiving interventional therapy (51.3% vs. 23.5%).
• DBE demonstrated comparable diagnostic yield (92.3% vs. 86.5%) and similar low complication rates (2.6% vs. 1.7%) between groups.

Conclusions:

• Double-balloon enteroscopy (DBE) is a safe and effective endoscopic procedure for elderly patients.
• DBE offers a high diagnostic yield and therapeutic success rate in the geriatric population.
• The procedure is associated with a low and comparable complication rate in elderly versus younger patients.