The diagnosis of 68 patients with small intestinal diseases by double-balloon enteroscopy / 中华消化杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate the diagnostic value, patients' tolerance and complications of double-balloon enteroscopy (DBE) in the diagnosis of small intestinal diseases. Methods During May 2003 to July 2005, a total of 68 patients (36 men, 32 women; mean age of 52. 6 years, range 15-78 years) with suspected small intestinal diseases were performed double-balloon enteroscopy (36 via mouth, 25 via anus and 7 via both mouth and anus according to suspected lesion location). Among them, obscure recurrent gastrointestinal bleeding was found in 39 cases, incomplete small intestinal obstruction in 7 cases, chronic abdominal pain in 14 cases, and chronic diarrhea in 8 cases. Results Approximately one half to three-fourth of the entire small intestine was observed by each approach in all cases except for 3 cases of severe intestinal stricture. The observation of the whole small intestine was finished by the combination of both oral and anal approaches in 7 cases. The appropriate use of X-ray made the enteroscopy easier and more helpful to determine the extent and location of the lesions. The lesions were found in 41 of the 68 patients, with a total positive rate of 60. 3%. The diagnostics yields was 26/39(62. 6%) in obscure recurrent gastrointestinal bleeding, 5 in incomplete intestinal obstruction, 6/14(43%) in chronic abdominal pain and 4 in chronic diarrhea, respectively. Fifty-seven cases (83. 8%) tolerated well without anesthesia while 11 cases received propofol anesthesia. No procedure-related severe adverse events or severe complications such as hemorrhage or perforation occurred in all cases. Conclusion Double-balloon enteroscopy is a well-tolerated and safe diagnostic approach with a high diagnostic yield in small intestinal diseases.