Evaluation of Small-Bowel Patency in Crohn’s Disease: Prospective Study with a Patency Capsule and Computed Tomography

Background and Purpose: Patency capsule (PC) examination is usually performed - previously to capsule endoscopy - to evaluate small-bowel patency in patients with established Crohn’s disease (CD). The reported PC retention rate is significantly higher than expected. Our aims were to assess small-bowel patency, to determine the precise location of the retained PC in patients with CD, and to determine the false positive rate of evaluation with a radiofrequency identification tag (RFIT) scanner. Methods: This is a prospective single-center study including CD patients with clinical indication for small-bowel capsule endoscopy. PillCam® PC examination was performed on all patients to assess smallbowel patency. On all patients with a positive identification of the PC using an RFIT scanner, 30 h after ingestion, an abdominal CT was performed in order to identify its precise location. Results: Fifty-four patients were included. The PC retention rate, according to evaluation with the RFIT scanner, was 20% (in 11 patients) 30 h after ingestion. These patients were then submitted to abdominal CT, which revealed that there was small-bowel retention in 5 cases (9%). Higher CRP levels, penetrating disease, and a history of abdominal surgery were associated with an increased risk of PC retention (p = 0.007, p = 0.011, and p = 0.033, respectively). On multivariate analysis, there was an independent association between small-bowel PC retention and CRP levels > 5 mg/dL (OR = 15.5; p = 0.03). Discussion: The small-bowel PC retention rate (9%) was considerably lower than those found in previous reports. Our results show that, with this protocol, the false-positive cases of RFIT scans or plain abdominal Xrays may be avoided. This may contribute to more extensive application of capsule endoscopy without the risk of smallbowel retention.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Silva,Marco, Cardoso,Hélder, Cunha,Rui, Peixoto,Armando, Gaspar,Rui, Gomes,Sara, Santos,Ana Luísa, Lopes,Susana, Macedo,Guilherme
Format:	Digital revista
Language:	English
Published:	Sociedade Portuguesa de Gastrenterologia 2019
Online Access:	http://scielo.pt/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2341-45452019000600003
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