Capsule endoscopy and single-balloon enteroscopy in small bowel diseases: Competing or complementary?

Area of Science:

• Gastroenterology
• Endoscopy
• Diagnostic Imaging

Background:

• Small bowel diseases pose diagnostic challenges.
• Capsule endoscopy (CE) and single-balloon enteroscopy (SBE) are key diagnostic tools.
• Evaluating their comparative diagnostic yields is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the diagnostic yields of CE and SBE for suspected small bowel diseases.
• To compare the efficacy of CE alone versus SBE alone.
• To investigate the combined utility of CE followed by SBE.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of 700 patients with suspected small bowel diseases.
• Procedures included CE, SBE, or sequential CE and SBE.
• Data on indications, procedure times, diagnostic yields, and complications were collected.

Main Results:

• Overall diagnostic yield for CE was 57.6%, higher in obscure gastrointestinal bleeding (OGIB).
• Overall diagnostic yield for SBE was 69.7%, with similar yields in OGIB and non-bleeding patients.
• SBE after positive CE findings yielded 93.3%; SBE detected lesions missed by CE, but missed some diagnoses.

Conclusions:

• SBE is a safe and effective method for diagnosing small bowel pathology.
• Sequential CE and SBE may enhance diagnostic accuracy for small bowel diseases.