Effect of erythromycin on image quality and transit time of capsule endoscopy: A two-center study

Table 1 Demographic and clinical data of the study patients (n = 100)

Parameter	No erythromycin	Erythromycin	P
	(n = 50)	(n = 50)
Age, yr (mean ± SD)	51.7 ± 21.6	52.1 ± 19.4	0.931
Male/Female	32/18	36/14	0.39
Indications			0.40
Suspected Crohn’s	19	18	0.84
Obscure GI bleeding	23	28	0.32
Others2	8	4	0.22
Final diagnosis in SB			0.10
Normal findings	23	19	0.42
Non-specific findings	9	7	0.59
Crohn’s disease	1	7	0.06
Angiodysplasia	7	2	0.16
Polyps	1	3	0.62
Others2	9	12	0.46

¹Unpaired t-test;

²Includes Indication (abdominal pain, celiac and polyposis syndrome) and final diagnosis (nodular hyperplasia, edematous fold, etc); the rest of P values are according to nonparametric Mann-Whitney test. SB: Small bowel; GI: Gastrointestinal.

Table 2 Transit times, bile and cleanliness scores in the two study groups (mean ± SD)

	No erythromycin	Erythromycin	P
	(n = 50)	(n = 50)
Gastric transit time (min)	28.36 ± 23.56	21.08 ± 15.13	0.071
			0.16
SB transit time (min)	270.42 ± 108.13	279.14 ± 103.89	0.83
Total transit time (min)	299.26 ± 108.18	300.22 ± 103.25	0.97
Did not reach the cecum (%)	8 (16%)	5 (10%)	0.37
Bile presence score	1.75 ± 0.61	1.76 ± 0.58	0.99
Cleanliness score
Proximal SB	1.78 ± 0.76	1.77 ± 0.74	1.00
Middle SB	2.22 ± 0.75	2.16 ± 0.77	0.73
Distal SB	2.79 ± 0.65	2.75 ± 0.74	0.73

¹Unpaired t-test; the rest of P values are according to nonparametric Mann-Whitney test. SB: Small bowel.

Table 3 Gastric transit time with respect to cecum reachability

	No erythromycin	Erythromycin	P
	(n = 50)	(n = 50)	value
Gastric transit time in cases failing to reach cecum (min)	36.75 ± 33.93 (n = 8)	22.2 ± 14.45 (n = 5)	0.52
Gastric transit time in cases where cecum was reached (min)	26.76 ± 21.22 (n = 42)	20.96 ± 15.36 (n = 45)	0.24
P	0.52	0.81

Table 4 Transit times according to indication for capsule endoscopy in Crohn’s disease and obscure gastrointestinal bleeding (OGIB)

Transit time	Indication	No erythromycin	Erythromycin	P
		(n = 50)	(n = 50)
Gastric transit time (min)	Crohn’s disease	27.16 ± 26.11	16.72 ± 13.21	0.19
	OGIB	29.82 ± 23.53	23.61 ± 16.49	0.43
	P	0.41	0.16
Small bowel transit time (min)	Crohn's disease	285.53 ± 96.31	324.50 ± 114.57	0.28
	OGIB	230.39 ± 103.00	255.32 ± 90.81	0.44
	P	0.066	0.04