The utility of capsule endoscopy in the diagnosis of obscure gastrointestinal bleeding of the elderly / 中华老年医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of M2A capsule endoscopy in the diagnosis of obscure gastrointestinal bleeding of elder patients. Methods Capsule endoscopy was used in 27 elderly patients, who were suspected of small bowel bleeding because of obscure gastrointestinal bleeding. About 20 of the 27 patients underwent gastroscopy, colonoscopy or air-baricum double contrast examination, but none of the examinations confirmed the bleeding sites, whereas the other 5 patients didn't receive any examination because of their intolerance. Results M2A capsule endoscopy disclosed the sites of small bowel disorders in 20 out of the 27 patients, the positive rate was about 74. 1%. The pathological findings consisted of angiodysplasia in 6 cases, mutipolypi in the intestine in 4, and 1 of them was diagnosed rare Cronkhite-Canada syndrome, prominency in the intestine in 4, single or multiple ulcers in the intestine in 7, diffuse mucosa lesion in the intestine in 9 and diverticulum in 1, arteriolar bleeding in gastric in 2, gastric mucosa erosion or ulcer in 5, whereas 7 patients were in negative findings. There were 12 patients in whom appeared at least 2 sites of pathological changes. Conclusions This study demonstrates that capsule endoscopy provides an excellent visualization way for the small intestines, especially when the elder patients suffers obscure gastrointestinal bleeding. It is safe and usefull for evaluating the suspected small bowel bleeding.