Evaluation of capsule endoscopy to detect mucosal lesions associated with gastrointestinal bleeding in dogs

The objective of this study was to examine the utility of capsule endoscopy to detect mucosal abnormalities in dogs with gastrointestinal haemorrhage.

Capsules were administered to 2 healthy controls and 8 patients with gastrointestinal haemorrhage. Images were evaluated for quality, gastric emptying time, small intestinal transit time and presence of lesions.

There were no adverse effects of capsule endoscopy in dogs weighing from 7·7 to 58 kg. The capsule traversed the entire gastrointestinal tract in 5 of 8 patients, with high quality images obtained in the stomach and small intestine. Gastric emptying time and small intestinal transit time ranged from 1 to 270 and 15 to 180 minutes, respectively. In 3 of 8 patients, the capsule remained in the stomach despite pro-kinetics. Gastric lesions included mild haemorrhage and pinpoint erosion (4 of 8), a mass (1) and thickened bleeding pyloric mucosa (2). Two of 3 dogs with capsule retention had gastric lesions. Intestinal lesions included a healing duodenal ulcer, abnormal villi, ileal ulceration and colonic bleeding. Lesions identified by capsule endoscopy were considered a significant source of haemorrhage in 4 of 7 dogs with active bleeding. The relevance of pinpoint gastric mucosal erosions to blood loss is unclear.

Capsule endoscopy can enable the non-invasive detection of gastric and small intestinal mucosal lesions in dogs presenting for evaluation of gastrointestinal bleeding.