Capsule endoscopy and enteroscopy are now the preferred methods to examine the small bowel in most situations
Ziyaettin Durakoglu, Medicana Bahçelievler Hospital Gastroenterology Specialist Doctor, informs about the method.Capsule endoscopy is a procedure that uses a tiny wireless camera to take pictures of your digestive tract. The camera sits inside a vitamin-sized capsule that you swallow. As the capsule travels through your digestive tract, the camera takes thousands of pictures that are transmitted to a recorder you wear on a belt around your waist or over your shoulder.
What is capsule endoscopy?
Capsule endoscopy helps doctors see inside your small intestine — an area that isn’t easily reached with conventional endoscopy. Capsule endoscopy can be used by adults and by children who can swallow the capsule. The procedure is usually started in a doctor’s office.The capsule endoscope (CE) is a 26 by 11 mm capsule containing a battery-powered complementary metal oxide silicon imager (CMOS), a transmitter, antenna and four light
emitting diodes.139 The imager is activated by removal of the capsule from its magnetic holder and takes two images per second through the transparent plastic dome of the capsule. The capsule is swallowed and is propelled through the intestine by peristalsis.
Your doctor may recommend capsule endoscopy to help diagnose or treat: Obscure gastrointestinal bleeding: Capsule endoscopy can help find the cause of gastrointestinal bleeding. Inflammatory bowel diseases: Capsule endoscopy may reveal areas of inflammation in the small intestine that can help your doctor diagnose Crohn’s disease and other inflammatory bowel diseases. Cancer: Capsule endoscopy can identify tumors in the small intestine that otherwise might be difficult to detect. Capsule endoscopy sometimes is done in conjunction with CT enterography because CT enterography can indicate tumors within the small bowel wall.
What can I expect during capsule endoscopy?
Your doctor will prepare you for the examination by applying a sensor device to your abdomen with adhesive sleeves (similar to tape). The pill-sized capsule endoscope is swallowed and passes naturally through your digestive tract while transmitting video images to a data recorder worn on your belt for approximately eight hours. At the end of the procedure you will return to the office and the data recorder is removed so that images of your small bowel can be put on a computer screen for physician review.
Most patients consider the test comfortable. The capsule endoscope is about the size of a large pill. After ingesting the capsule and until it is excreted you should not be near an MRI device or schedule an MRI examination.
