Wireless capsule endoscopy in patients with obscure gastrointestinal bleeding: a comparative study with push enteroscopy A. MATA, J. M. BORDAS, F. FEU, A. GINE ´ S, M. PELLISE ´ , G. FERNA ´ NDEZ-ESPARRACH, F. BALAGUER, J. M. PIQUE ´ & J. LLACH Digestive Endoscopy Unit, Gastroenterology Service, IMD, Hospital Clinic, Barcelona, Spain Accepted for publication 10 May 2004 SUMMARY Background: The identification and treatment of lesions located in the small intestine in obscure gastrointestinal bleeding is always a clinical challenge. Aim: To examine prospectively the diagnostic precision and the clinical efficacy of capsule endoscopy compared with push enteroscopy in obscure gastrointestinal bleeding. Methods: Forty-two patients (22 men and 20 women) with obscure gastrointestinal bleeding (overt bleeding in 26 cases and occult blood loss with chronic anaemia in 16) and normal oesophagogastroduodenoscopy and colonoscopy were analysed. All patients were instructed to receive the capsule endoscopy and push enteroscopy was performed within the next 7 days. Both techniques were blindly performed by separate examiners. The diagnostic yield for each technique was defined as the frequency of detection of clinically relevant intestinal lesions carrying potential for bleeding. Results: A bleeding site potentially related to gastroin- testinal bleeding or evidence of active bleeding was identified in a greater proportion of patients using capsule endoscopy (74%; 31 of 42) than enteroscopy (19%; eight of 42) (P ¼ 0.05). The most frequent capsule endoscopy findings were: angiodysplasia (45%), fresh blood (23%), jejunal ulcers (10%), ileal inflammatory mucosa (6%) and ileal tumour (6%). No additional intestinal diagnoses were made by enteroscopy. In seven patients (22%), the results obtained with capsule endoscopy led to a successful change in the therapeutic approach. Conclusions: Compared with push enteroscopy, capsule endoscopy increases the diagnosis yield in patients with obscure gastrointestinal bleeding, and allows modifica- tion on therapy strategy in a remarkable proportion of patients. INTRODUCTION In the majority of gastrointestinal bleeding episodes, the source of bleeding is located in regions that can be reached by standard upper gastrointestinal endoscopy or colonoscopy. However, approximately 5% of bleeding sites are thought to be located in the small bowel, a proportion that increases in those patients classified as obscure gastrointestinal bleeding (OGB), because stand- ard endoscopic examinations of the upper and lower gastrointestinal tract are negative. 1–3 Push enteroscopy has been considered a useful diagnostic procedure for identifying small bowel lesions in patients with OGB, and allows therapy in some cases. 4 However, it is poorly tolerated, technically difficult (often requires deep seda- tion or anaesthesia, and is time-consuming), restricted to jejunum examination, and it is not free of complica- tions. 5–8 Additional diagnostic procedures potentially useful in OGB include small bowel barium series, angio- graphy, computerized tomography (CT) and radionuclide Correspondence to: Dr J. Llach, Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Unit, Hospital Clı ´nic i Provincial, Villarroel 170, 08036 Barcelona, Spain. E-mail: jllach@clinic.ub.es Aliment Pharmacol Ther 2004; 20: 189–194. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2036.2004.02067.x Ó 2004 Blackwell Publishing Ltd 189