Breaching the final frontier: the future of small-intestinal capsule endoscbpy

摘要

Relatively inaccessible to routine endoscopic visualization, the small howel has long been the final frontier of GI endoscopy. In the past, our options for evaluating the dark recesses of the jejunum and the ileum have been limited. Traditional push enteroscopy accessed only the proximal portion of the small intestine; small-bowel radiography was limited by poor accuracy and an inability to detect flat mucosal lesions, and intraoperative endoscopy, considered the ultimate step in small-bowel evaluation, was highly invasive and morbid. Fortunately, serious pathology of the small bowel is relatively uncommon. Nevertheless, there are situations in which accurate and complete evaluation of the small bowel is imperative, with obscure GI bleeding representing the most common such indication#