Age and indication for referral to capsule endoscopy significantly affect small bowel transit times: the given database.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of age and selected indications for capsule endoscopy on small bowel transit times. Data on 67 clinical studies (790 subjects with different gastrointestinal pathologies [49.5% males; mean age, 51.9 +/- 18.33 years; range, 18-91 years] and 87 healthy volunteers) were retrieved from the company (Given Imaging, Ltd.)-sponsored database. All subjects swallowed the PillCam SB Capsule after a 12-hr fast. The capsule reached the cecum in all 877 participants. Indications for referral for capsule endoscopy were as follows: 372 obscure gastrointestinal bleeding, 96 suspected Crohn's disease, 65 celiac disease, 54 irritable bowel syndrome, and 116 familial adenomatous polyposis, intestinal lymphoma, or ulcerative colitis. One group consisted of patients <40 years old (n = 235), and the other patients 40 years old (n = 555). The younger group, volunteers, and Crohn's disease patients had significantly shorter small bowel transit times than the others (P < 0.001). Gastric emptying indirectly influenced capsule transit time.

Diagnostic yield of capsule endoscopy in obscure gastrointestinal bleeding.

OBJECTIVES: Chronic occult blood loss from the gastrointestinal tract is a recognized major cause of iron-deficiency anemia. After conventional investigation of the upper and lower parts of the gastrointestinal tract, the source of bleeding remains unidentified in approximately 10% of these patients. We evaluated the diagnostic yield of capsule endoscopy from patients enrolled in clinical studies due to persistent or recurrent iron-deficiency anemia. METHODS: In this large cohort study, patients with obscure gastrointestinal bleeding were identified in a company-sponsored clinical study (Given Imaging, Ltd.) database which contains data from >50 clinical studies. Information on suitable patients was derived from 31 of them. Each subject swallowed an M2A Given Capsule containing a miniature video camera, batteries, a transmitter and an antenna. Recording time was approximately 8 h. The capsule was excreted naturally in the patient's bowel movement, and the data it transmitted were retrieved and interpreted the next day. RESULTS: 293 patients were studied (135 males, 46.1%, mean age 59.4 +/- 16.8 years) whose mean number of bleeding episodes was 4.3 +/- 5.5 and mean hemoglobin level was 9.8 +/- 2.4 g/dl. The average number of diagnostic procedures per patient prior to the capsule endoscopy study was 5.59. Capsule endoscopy detected definitive findings in 213/293 patients (72%) and findings missed by other diagnostic procedures in 22/293 patients (8%). Neither capsule endoscopy nor the other diagnostic procedures yielded diagnoses in 58/293 patients (20%). CONCLUSIONS: Capsule endoscopy has a high diagnostic yield in evaluating patients with obscure gastrointestinal bleeding.