Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Endosc. Jul 16, 2024; 16(7): 424-431
Published online Jul 16, 2024. doi: 10.4253/wjge.v16.i7.424
Clinical and demographic features of patients undergoing video-capsule endoscopy management: A descriptive study
María C Mejía, Luis G Piñeros, Luis M Pombo, Laura A León, Jenny A Velásquez, Aníbal A Teherán, Karen P Ayala
María C Mejía, Luis M Pombo, Aníbal A Teherán, Karen P Ayala, Research Center, Fundación Universitaria Juan N. Corpas, Bogotá 111321, Colombia
Luis G Piñeros, Fundación Universitaria Juan N. Corpas, Bogotá 111321, Colombia
Laura A León, Department of Gastroenterology, Universidad Militar Nueva Granada, Bogotá 111711, Colombia
Jenny A Velásquez, Department of Gastroenterology, Hospital Universitario Clínica San Rafael, Bogotá 111711, Colombia
Author contributions: Mejía MC, León LA, Velásquez JA, Teherán AA, Piñeros LG, Pombo LM, and Ayala KP contribute to methodology, writing (original draft), writing (review and editing), supervision, funding acquisition, and research; Mejía MC, León LA, Velásquez JA, and Teherán AA contribute to conceptualization, and project administration; Mejía MC, Teherán AA, Piñeros LG, Pombo LM, and Ayala KP contribute to formal analysis, data curation, and visualization; Mejía MC, León LA, Velásquez JA, Teherán AA, and Ayala KP contribute to validation, resources, and project administration.
Institutional review board statement: The digital file of the PillCam™ SB3 system contains a series of images for each endoscopic record, which were read and reported in a standard format by gastroenterologists; from these reports, data for this research were extracted and an anonymized database was created. Therefore, this research was classified as low risk according to the local ethical regulation in force (Fundación Universitaria Juan N. Corpas Research Committee).
Informed consent statement: This research was classified as low risk according to the local ethical regulation in force, and under local ethical regulations, do not require inform consent sign.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this article.
Data sharing statement: Technical appendix, statistical code, and dataset available from the corresponding author at https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/ETJEVY. Consent was not obtained but the presented data are anonymized, and risk of identification is low. No additional data are available.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Checklist.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (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: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Aníbal A Teherán, MD, MSc, Professor, Senior Researcher, Senior Statistician, Research Center, Fundación Universitaria Juan N. Corpas, Cra. 111 #159a-61, Bogotá 111321, Colombia. anibal.teheran@juanncorpas.edu.co
Received: April 15, 2024
Revised: May 14, 2024
Accepted: May 27, 2024
Published online: July 16, 2024
Processing time: 83 Days and 12.6 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Video-capsule endoscopy (VCE) is an efficient tool that has proven to be highly useful in approaching several gastrointestinal diseases. VCE was implemented in Colombia in 2003, however current characterization of patients undergoing VCE in Colombia is limited, and mainly comes from two investigations conducted before the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic period.

AIM

To describe the characteristics of patients undergoing VCEs and establish the main indications, findings, technical limitations, and other outstanding features.

METHODS

A descriptive study was carried out using data from reports of VCE (PillCam SB3 system) use in a Gastroenterology Unit in Bogotá, Colombia between September 2019 and January 2023. Demographic and clinical variables such as indication for the VCE, gastric and small bowel transit times (GTT, SBTT), endoscopic preparation quality, and limitations were described [n (%), median (IQR)].

RESULTS

A total of 133 VCE reports were analyzed. Most were in men with a median age of 70 years. The majority had good preparation (96.2%), and there were technical limitations in 15.8% of cases. The main indications were unexplained anemia (91%) or occult bleeding (23.3%). The median GTT and SBTT were 14 and 30 minutes, respectively. The frequencies of bleeding stigma (3.79%) and active bleeding (9.09%) were low, and the most frequent abnormal findings were red spots (28.3%), erosions (17.6%), and vascular ectasias (12.5%).

CONCLUSION

VCE showed high-level safety. The main indication was unexplained anemia. Active bleeding was the most frequent finding. Combined with artificial intelligence, VCE can improve diagnostic precision and targeted therapeutic interventions.

Keywords: Endoscopy, Video-capsule endoscopy, Capsule endoscopy, Gastrointestinal diseases, Observational study, Gastrointestinal bleeding

Core Tip: Video-capsule endoscopy (VCE) has proven to be a highly useful and efficient diagnostic tool, not only for obscure and occult bleeding, but also for small bowel diseases. VCE was implemented in Colombia in 2003. However, the current characterization of patients undergoing VCE in Colombia is limited. This research could be useful in promoting the training and use of VCEs as a diagnostic tool, and potentially, as an intervention coadjutant in developing countries.