Capsule endoscopy is a procedure that uses a tiny wireless camera to take pictures of your digestive tract. A capsule endoscopy camera sits inside a vitamin-size capsule you swallow. As the capsule travels through your digestive tract, the camera takes thousands of pictures that are transmitted to a recorder you wear on a belt around your waist.

Capsule endoscopy helps doctors see inside your small intestine — an area that isn't easily reached with more-traditional endoscopy procedures. Traditional endoscopy involves passing a long, flexible tube equipped with a video camera down your throat or through your rectum.

Figure 1. Overview of Capsule Endoscopy

Figure 1 shows A capsule endoscopy is a procedure that involves swallowing a small capsule, which is the size of a large vitamin pill. Inside the capsule is a tiny wireless camera that takes pictures as it passes through the small intestine. Images are transmitted to a recording device worn on a belt around your waist. This recording device saves the pictures for a specialist to look at and interpret at a later time. [2]

The limitations of capsule endoscopy

While the capsule provides the best means of viewing the inside of the small intestine, there are many inherent limitations and problems with its use, the most important of which is that the capsule does not allow for therapy. Other problems include:

• Abnormalities in some areas of the intestine are missed because of rapid transit of the capsule and blurred, uninterpretable photographs. The images can also be blurred by retained stool of food debris. Hence the importance of a good bowel preparation prior to the capsule endoscopy.
• At times, transit is so slow that the capsule examines only part of the small intestine before the battery fails. The battery life is about eight hours.
• If there are narrow areas due to scarring (strictures) or tumors in the small intestine, the capsule can get stuck in the narrow area and cause an obstruction of the intestine that requires surgical removal of the capsule. (For this reason, in patients who are suspected of having a stricture, a self-dissolving, dummy capsule is swallowed first. If the dummy capsule sticks, it can be seen on an X-ray of the abdomen and the location of the stricture determined. Because it dissolves with time, however, the obstruction from the capsule will resolve without surgery, and the real capsule will not be used.)
• Finally, reviewing the tens of thousands of photographs is very time consuming for the conscientious physician. [4]Capsule Endoscopy Cost

Capsule Endoscopy Cost

The cost of capsule endoscopy can vary based on your location, healthcare provider, and medical insurance. The procedure can be expensive because the capsule is disposable. But it can be safer and better than a colonoscopy for some people.

Cost of the capsule. A video endoscopy capsule costs approximately $500.

Cost of the capsule endoscopy procedure.The entire procedure can cost anywhere between $700 and $2,000. But it can vary based on the part of your gastrointestinal tract being examined. [3]

References:

1. https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/capsule-endoscopy/about/pac-20393366
2. https://www.uofmhealth.org/conditions-treatments/digestive-and-liver-health/capsule-endoscopy
3. https://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/what-is-capsule-endoscopy
4. https://www.medicinenet.com/capsule_endoscopy/article.htm

Cite this article:

Thanusri swetha J (2021), Overview of Capsule Endoscopy, Anatechmaz, pp. 53