Capsule video endoscopy in Crohn's disease - The European experience

These collective data clearly demonstrate that CE is an important new tool with a higher diagnostic yield in recognizing CD than any other method available. CE can diagnose CD especially at its early stages: it is useful in patients with suspected CD when radiographs are either negative or merely suspicious. A negative small bowel follow through in a patient suspected of suffering from CD cannot be taken as evidence that this patient does not have CD. This patient should undergo a capsule endoscopy study (see flow chart algorithm Fig. 3). In this patient group the risk of non-passage is especially small. Capsule endoscopy also seems useful in patients with known CD of the colon to determine small bowel involvement, or in patients with undetermined colitis to establish a more precise diagnosis. Thus CE represents an important diagnostic addition to the armamentarium of the practicing gastroenterologist.