Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jan 7, 2015; 21(1): 326-332
Published online Jan 7, 2015. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i1.326
Impact of fecal occult blood on obscure gastrointestinal bleeding: Observational study
Yuka Kobayashi, Hirotsugu Watabe, Atsuo Yamada, Hirobumi Suzuki, Yoshihiro Hirata, Yutaka Yamaji, Haruhiko Yoshida, Kazuhiko Koike
Yuka Kobayashi, Hirotsugu Watabe, Atsuo Yamada, Hirobumi Suzuki, Yoshihiro Hirata, Yutaka Yamaji, Haruhiko Yoshida, Kazuhiko Koike, Department of Gastroenterology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8655, Japan
Author contributions: Kobayashi Y, Watabe H, Yamada A, Yamaji Y and Koike K designed the research; Kobayashi Y, Watabe H, Yamada A and Suzuki H performed the research; Kobayashi Y, Watabe H, Yamada A, Hirata Y, Yamaji Y and Yoshida H analyzed the data; Kobayashi Y, Watabe H and Koike K wrote the paper.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Yuka Kobayashi, MD, PhD, Department of Gastroenterology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8655, Japan. yukakobayashi-tky@umin.ac.jp
Telephone: +81-3-38155411 Fax: +81-3-38140021
Received: June 18, 2014
Peer-review started: June 19, 2014
First decision: July 21, 2014
Revised: August 8, 2014
Accepted: September 18, 2014
Article in press: September 19, 2014
Published online: January 7, 2015
Processing time: 202 Days and 19.6 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: We investigated the association between small bowel diseases (SBDs) and a positive fecal occult blood test (FOBT) in patients with obscure gastrointestinal bleeding (OGIB). Positive FOBT may be useful for predicting SBDs in patients with occult OGIB. Positive FOBT indicates higher likelihood of ulcers or tumors in patients with occult OGIB. Undergoing capsule endoscopy within a day after FOBT achieved a higher diagnostic yield for patients with occult OGIB.