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Doctor insights on: Disadvantages Of Capsule Endoscopy

Small bowel test: It is a test that involves swallowing a small camera (the size of a multivitamin) that takes images of your small intestine. It sends the images to a small monitor that is worn by your side for 8-12 hours that is then connected to a computer after your return for your physician to look at the images. The capsule is one-time use only and does not need to be retrieved.

Very safe: It is usually very safe. The only potential problem would be if you have a narrowing in your intestines, which can cause the pill to get stuck. You would require surgery to get it out. If you don't have a history of bowel obstructions, crohn's disease, inflammatory bowel disease, the risk of the pill getting stuck is very close to zero.

Laxatives: You need to take laxatives as directed by your referring doctor. Usually it is a similar preparation than the colonoscopy prep (miralax, golytely, (polyethylene glycol) nulytely, halflytely, etc).

Quick prep: Usually, I have patients take a 10 ounce bottle of magnesium citrate the night before and have nothing to eat or drink 12 hours before the capsule so that the small intestine is clean. Some physician do a full colonscopy prep the night before, but I find my prep works very well.

Stomach: It helps the pads stay on better. You can go to youtube to see the video the capsule being set up.

Sometimes: Capsule endoscopy is very useful to help diagnose causes for anemia, small intestinal polyps, or inflammatory bowel disease.

Capsule Endoscopy: Capsule endoscopy uses a small fiberoptic camera inside of a pill to take pictures of the lining of your intestines. It is designed to evaluate the parts of the small bowel that cannot be readily seen with standard endoscopes (upper or lower). Your doctor may want to detect a source of inflammation or bleeding that would not otherwise be seen. Images are sent to a computer chip and reviewed.

Yes/no: It is not available as an inpatient, but is covered for certain diagnoses as an outpatient.

Rare: capsule endoscopy is overall very safe, as it is a non-invasive procedure. However the main risk is having the capsule get stuck somewhere along the intestinal tract. Therefore if you have a history of intestinal obstruction this test should be avoided.

Depend: Shop around for difference price around ur area.

Sometimes: It depends on what the goal of the procedure is. The capsule endoscopy shows different views of mucosa than a scope does. It is able to look deeper into the intestines, but it does not give as good a view of the upper portion of the digestive tract. You should ask your doctor if it is appropriate. Good luck.

Direct vision vs. TV: In colonoscopy a scope is passed retrograde up the colon after cleansing with a bowel prep. Air inflation dilates the bowel to aid visualization. With the pill camera, the pill or capsule is swallowed and as it passes the pylorus to the small bowel, a TV image is transmitted to a camera and the passage of the pill is video copied to review any findings and visualize any small bowel lesions.

Return device: You need to return the recording device that you wear on your waist (some places ask you to return the same afternoon, or the following day).

Color: Mainly because it changes the color of your intestinal secretions and stool. It also causes constipation. Therefore it may preclude you to have an optimal examination. Most patients getting a capsule endoscopy have anemia, however stopping it for a few days prior to the test is ok and recommended.

O: Most clinical trials provide all testing and treatments at no cost to the participants. Thanks for helping science progress.

Small bowel lesions: A capsule endoscopy may capture lesions in the small bowel, not otherwise reachable by upper endoscopy or colonoscopy.

Possibly: If you are at an academic center working with pediatric GI and radiology specialists, this can be a great alternative if you just need to look. If they think biopsies are going to be needed, then won't work. And, unfortunately, you do need pretty much the same cleanout so you can get good images form the camera and be able to see what is really going on. Child also has to be able to swallow camera

That is usual: It follows the stream and the cecum is a side passage

Not typical: You may have another disease which causes inflammation in your small bowel from another mechanism given the negative IgA tTG (provided that you were not avoiding gluten at the time of the test) and DQ2/DQ8. Perhaps a biopsy is in order. Has gluten avoidance helped?

Yes for best results: Best results are obtained by swallowing the capsule after good bowel prep. It has minute digital camera, which takes pictures when passing through the small bowel, well prepared gut will give best accurate pictures of pathology (diseased area) than unprepared bowel.