Clinical application of capsule endoscopy in children with small bowel disease in Wuhan, China

TL;DR

This study evaluates how well capsule endoscopy works in diagnosing small intestine issues in children in Wuhan, finding it is safe and effective.

Contribution

The study provides new clinical data on capsule endoscopy effectiveness and safety in children with small bowel diseases in Wuhan.

Findings

Capsule endoscopy achieved a 95.36% completion rate in children.

Nonspecific small intestinal inflammation was the most common diagnosis.

Crohn’s disease was predominantly diagnosed in children aged 7–18 years.

Abstract

To evaluate the clinical application value of capsule endoscopy (CE) in the diagnosis of small intestinal diseases in children in Wuhan.

A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data of children who underwent CE examination at the Digestive Endoscopy Center of Wuhan Children’s Hospital from July 2021 to November 2024. The completion rate of CE examination, disease detection rate, small intestinal transit time, and adverse reactions were analyzed.

Among the 151 children, 97 were male (64.24%) and 54 were female (35.76%), with an average age of 10.9 years. CE was swallowed orally in 133 cases (88.08%) and placed through gastroscopy in 18 cases (11.92%). Complete small intestinal examination was achieved in 144 cases (95.36%), with an average small intestinal transit time of 4 h and 11 min for those swallowed orally and 4 h and 16 min for those placed through gastroscopy. Seven cases (4.64%) did not complete the full small intestinal examination. Abdominal pain (99 cases, 65.56%), anemia (19 cases, 12.58%), and hematochezia and melena (23 cases, 15.23%) were the most common indications for examination. Among the 151 children, 116 (76.82%) had positive results, including 68 cases of nonspecific small intestinal inflammation, 29 cases of Crohn’s disease, 4 cases of Henoch-Schönlein purpura, 6 cases of Meckel’s diverticulum, 4 cases of small intestinal parasitic disease, 2 cases of collagenous gastritis, 1 case of melanocytic polyp, 1 case of lymphangiectasia, and 1 case of blue rubber bleb nevus syndrome. Nonspecific small intestinal inflammation was the most common in all age groups, while Crohn’s disease was mainly seen in the 7–12 years and 13–18 years age groups, accounting for 55.17% and 44.83%, respectively. No adverse reactions occurred in all children.

CE examination in children in Wuhan has a high disease detection rate and good safety. CE can be further promoted in the diagnosis of small intestinal diseases in children.

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