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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Endosc. Jul 25, 2016; 8(14): 477-488
Published online Jul 25, 2016. doi: 10.4253/wjge.v8.i14.477
Video capsule endoscopy in inflammatory bowel disease
Paul D Collins
Paul D Collins, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Royal Liverpool University Hospital, Liverpool L8 7NP, United Kingdom
Author contributions: Collins PD analysed the literature and wrote the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The author has no conflict of interest to report.
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: Dr. Paul D Collins, MB, BCh, MD, FRCP, Consultant Gastroenterologist, Honorary Senior Lecturer, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Royal Liverpool University Hospital, Prescot Street, Liverpool L8 7NP, United Kingdom. paul.collins@rlbuht.nhs.uk
Telephone: +44-151-7063553 Fax: +44-151-7063582
Received: March 27, 2016
Peer-review started: March 29, 2016
First decision: April 19, 2016
Revised: May 10, 2016
Accepted: June 1, 2016
Article in press: June 16, 2016
Published online: July 25, 2016
Abstract

Video capsule endoscopy (VCE) has evolved to become an important tool for the non-invasive examination of the small bowel, which hitherto had been relatively inaccessible to direct visualisation. VCE has been shown to play a role in monitoring the activity of small bowel Crohn’s disease and can be used to assess the response to anti-inflammatory treatment in Crohn’s disease. For those patients with Crohn’s disease who have undergone an intestinal resection, VCE has been assessed as a tool to detect post-operative recurrence. VCE may also aid in the reclassification of patients with a diagnosis of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Unclassified to Crohn’s disease. The evolution of colon capsule endoscopy (CCE) has expanded the application of this technology further. The use of CCE to assess the activity of ulcerative colitis has been described. This advance in capsule technology has also fuelled interest in its potential role as a minimally invasive tool to assess the whole of GI tract opening the possibility of its use for the panenteric assessment of Crohn’s disease. VCE is a safe procedure. However, the risk of a retained capsule is higher in patients with suspected or confirmed Crohn’s disease compared with patients having VCE examination for other indications. A retained video capsule is rare after successful passage of a patency capsule which may be utilised to pre-screen patients undergoing VCE. This paper describes the use of VCE in the assessment of inflammatory bowel disease.

Keywords: Video capsule endoscopy, Inflammatory bowel diseases, Crohn’s disease, Ulcerative colitis, Patency capsule

Core tip: Video capsule endoscopy (VCE) has evolved to become an important tool for the non-invasive examination of the small bowel. Prior to the development of this technology, the small bowel had been relatively inaccessible to direct visualisation. In the setting of Crohn’s disease, VCE has been shown to play a role in monitoring disease activity and response to treatment. The evolution of colon capsule endoscopy has expanded the application of this technology in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). This paper describes the use of VCE in the assessment of IBD.