Small Bowel Capsule Endoscopy: Benefits of Rereading Rather than Repeating—A Single Blinded Randomized Study

Abstract

Objectives Small bowel capsule endoscopy (SBCE) technology detects small bowel lesions. Many factors affect its sensitivity. SBCE is also costly, and patients might not be able to repeat the test when results are equivocal. Instead of repeating the test, reading the results by two endoscopists might provide a better or a cheaper option in the right settings. We studied the sensitivity of SBCE when read by two different physicians and checked if, rather than repeating the examination, rereading the results improved its sensitivity. Furthermore, we studied the effect of small bowel transit time (SBTT) on the diagnostic yield.

Keywords

• capsule endoscopy
• small bowel transit time
• anemia
• obscure gastrointestinal bleed