The Use of Balloon-assisted Enteroscopy at a Large Volume Centre: A Retrospective Analysis

Balloon-assisted enteroscopy (BAE) is increasingly used for the evaluation of small bowel disorders. We quantified local diagnostic and therapeutic yields of BAE in patients with suspected small bowel diseases.

Adult patients undergoing BAE between January 2010 and July 2015 at McGill University Health Centre were included. Procedures were identified using a prospectively maintained database. Patients were excluded if procedure report was unavailable. Electronic medical records were reviewed. Analyses were restricted to patients who did not have a previous BAE.

BAE was performed in 453 patients, including 421 anterograde cases. Patients had a mean age of 61.0 ± 17.5 years. Most common indications for referral were obscure gastrointestinal bleeding (OGIB) (n=207, 45.7%), abnormal imaging (n=88, 19.4%), suspected small bowel neoplasia (SBN) (n=39, 8.6%) and Crohn's disease (CD) (n=31, 6.8%). A diagnosis was established in 216 procedures (47.7%). A pre-endoscopic indication of CD (odds ratio [OR]: 3.78; 95% Confidence Interval [CI], 1.60-8.90), OGIB (OR: 3.69, 95% CI, 2.03-6.71), suspected SBN (OR: 2.45; 95% CI, 1.06-5.65) and previous VCE (OR: 9.33; 95% CI, 3.24-26.90) were associated with abnormal findings. A therapeutic procedure was performed in 126 cases (28.3%). OGIB (OR: 7.00; 95% CI, 3.83-12.81), previous video capsule endoscopy (VCE) (OR: 7.86; 95% CI, 2.93-21.04) and suspected SBN (OR: 6.30; 95% CI, 2.58-21.04) were associated with performance of a therapeutic intervention. Complication rate was 1.6%, with bleeding in seven cases and one perforation.

In carefully selected patients, such as those with OGIB, Crohn's disease and previous VCE, BAE was a safe procedure that led to the identification of abnormal findings and therapeutic interventions.