Differences in Preparation for Small Bowel Capsule Endoscopy

Plain-language summary

The introduction of video capsule endoscopy in 2000 has provided a convenient and minimally invasive imaging method for the whole small bowel. Capsule Endoscopy is used to investigate a number of conditions such as obscure gastrointestinal bleeding, iron deficiency anaemia, inflammatory bowel disease, celiac disease, small bowel tumors, and hereditary polyposis syndromes. However, Capsule Endoscopy capsules are not able to suction fluid or wash the intestine, thus making it susceptible to decreased visualization quality and diagnostic yield due to dark intestinal contents or air bubbles. In order to determine the best method for bowel preparation before Capsule Endoscopy, this study seeks to determine in patients undergoing small intestine Capsule Endoscopy if split dose Polyethylene Glycol or single morning dose of Polyethylene Glycol have a benefit in Visualisation quality when compared to clear fluids only. A co-primary outcome will also be the diagnostic yield, as measured by the aggregate of all the active preparation groups compared to than clear fluids only group. Secondary outcome measures will include tolerance of preparations, cleanliness as assessed by a validated 4 point scale, distal small bowel visualization (the last 1/4 of small bowel examination by time) and small bowel transit time (measured as time from first duodenal image to first cecal image). Adult outpatients referred for small bowel video capsule endoscopy will be considered for the study and this will run in the clinical environment as per routine. Patients will have been referred for capsule endoscopy as per normal clinical practice so not additional procedure will take place. Patients will be randomly assigned to in a one to one fashion to one of three groups in order to explore whether bowel preparation (either as a single or divided dose) produce better cleansing and diagnostic yield than no preparation at all in small bowel capsule endoscopy.

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