Usefulness of capsule endoscopy for small intestinal obstruction: a dual-center prospective observational study

Aim: To evaluate whether capsule endoscopy can identify causes of small intestinal obstruction and determine the appropriate patient population for capsule endoscopy. Methods: In this prospective observational study, we performed a tag-less patency capsule endoscopy for patients with small intestinal obstruction. After confirming the patency of the small intestine, capsule endoscopy was performed using Pill Cam SB2. The study endpoint was recurrence of small intestinal obstruction within 1 year. Results: Of the 31 study patients, 8 were excluded. The remaining 23 patients, including 13 with a history of surgery and 3 with band adhesions on contrast-enhanced CT, were analyzed. Subsequently, 18 of the 23 study patients underwent tag-less patency capsule endoscopy to evaluate the small intestinal patency. Capsule endoscopy revealed redness in six patients, erosions and ulcers in three patients, small intestinal diverticulum in one patient, and tumor in one patient. One patient with Meckel’s diverticulum and another with small intestinal ganglioneuroma underwent surgical resection. No recurrence of small intestinal obstruction was observed at 1 year. Conclusion: This prospective observational study demonstrated that capsule endoscopy can determine the cause of small intestinal obstruction after the obstruction is relieved.