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Published on: August 22, 2025
Symptomatic retention of the patency capsule: a multicenter real life case series
Uri Kopylov1, Artur Nemeth2, Alba Cebrian3
1Department of Gastroenterology, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
Background And Aims:
The patency capsule is designed to evaluate the patency of the small bowel before administration of small-bowel capsule endoscopy (SBCE) in patients at high risk of retention. The utilization of a patency capsule may be associated with a risk of symptomatic retention, but very few cases have been reported to date. The aim of our study was to describe our experience with this rare complication of a patency capsule.
Methods:
This was a multicenter retrospective case series. The medical records of patients who underwent a patency capsule test were scanned and all cases of symptomatic retention were collected.
Results:
In total, 20 symptomatic cases of retention out of 1615 (1.2 %) patency capsule tests were identified; in one patient, the patency capsule was retained in the esophagus, in the rest, the capsule was detected in the small bowel resulting in abdominal pain or small-bowel obstruction. One patient (5 %) required surgery; all other patients resolved spontaneously or after corticosteroid therapy.
Conclusions:
Symptomatic patency capsule retention is a very rare complication with a favorable prognosis. It should be recognized but its use in patients with suspected small-bowel stenosis should not be discouraged.
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