Quality performance measures for small capsule endoscopy: Are the ESGE quality standards met?

Area of Science:

• Gastroenterology
• Endoscopy
• Quality Improvement

Background:

• The European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) established quality performance measures for small bowel capsule endoscopy (SBCE).
• A nationwide survey was conducted to assess current SBCE practices against these ESGE benchmarks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate adherence to ESGE quality performance measures in small bowel capsule endoscopy.
• To identify areas for improvement in SBCE procedural standards across participating centers.

Main Methods:

• A semi-quantitative questionnaire based on ESGE performance measures was distributed to 181 centers performing SBCE.
• Centers reported SBCE data from 2018 and compared their performance against 10 ESGE quality standards.

Main Results:

• Ninety-one centers participated, reporting on 5917 SBCEs in 2018.
• Most centers met standards for indications, complete evaluation, diagnostic yield, and retention rate.
• Compliance was low for bowel preparation (15.5%), patient selection (10.9%), bleeding timing (31.1%), reporting (67.7%), reading protocols (53.4%), and device-assisted enteroscopy referral (32.2%).

Conclusions:

• Significant variability exists in SBCE quality across centers.
• Only 40% of minimum SBCE standards were met by a majority of centers.
• The findings highlight critical areas for targeted quality improvement initiatives in SBCE.