Published online Sep 14, 2008. doi: 10.3748/wjg.14.5237
Revised: August 10, 2008
Accepted: August 17, 2008
Published online: September 14, 2008
Despite significant advances over the last decade, mucosal lesions of the small bowel are poorly detected by imaging studies such as CT scan, MRI-enteroclysis and contrast-enhanced abdominal ultrasound. Capsule endoscopy (CE) has dramatically changed the diagnostic approach to intestinal diseases. Moreover, the use of CE can be extended to include other conditions. However, it is difficult to assess the positive influence of CE on patient outcomes in conditions involving a small number of patients, or in critically ill and difficult to examine patients. CE has the advantage of diagnosing intestinal lesions and of directing the use of double balloon enteroscopy (DBE) in order to obtain biopsy specimens. Moreover, CE allows repeated assessment in chronic conditions, especially to detect relapse of an infectious disease.