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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Endosc Int Open 2020; 08(10): E1220-E1224
DOI: 10.1055/a-1210-4830
Editorial

How to read small bowel capsule endoscopy: a practical guide for everyday use

Emanuele Rondonotti
1   Gastroenterology Unit, Ospedale Valduce, Como, Italy
,
Marco Pennazio
2   University Division of Gastroenterology. City of Health and Science University Hospital, Turin, Italy
,
Ervin Toth
3   Department of Gastroenterology, Skane University Hospital, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden
,
Anastasios Koulaouzidis
4   Endoscopy Unit, The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland
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Small bowel (SB) capsule endoscopy (SBCE) is often perceived by both patients and physicians as a “lightweight,” noninvasive, comfortable procedure that is easily performed with little more than swallowing a pill and a glass of water. However, “easy to carry out” does not translate to ease of reading or interpretation. A SB capsule acquires thousands of images and generates a long video; however, clinically relevant findings are often seen in only a few frames. There is no way to direct or focus the camera, the capsule’s lens cannot be cleaned or luminal debris removed, and perhaps most importantly, the capsule cannot take tissue samples. Therefore, the rate of missed lesions in the SB has been quoted as high as 10 % [1]. Despite various SB imaging modalities offering similar diagnostic yield (DY) and miss rates, SBCE is one of the few endoscopic procedures open to immense scrutiny, as the data recorded are readily accessible for further on-demand review. This may expose clinicians to additional litigation but conversely, also provides a unique learning platform for new generations of SBCE readers. This is certainly fertile ground for virtual artificial neural network (ANN) training systems and even artificial intelligence (AI) diagnosis [2]. Currently, several different SBCE platforms exist. They differ in technical features and specifications such as size and weight, number and position of cameras, frame rate acquisition, and battery duration, as well as in several functions of proprietary reading software. In this editorial, we aim to provide general principles for SBCE reading, which are only partially addressed in recent technical reviews or guidelines [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]. We would also like to suggest tips and tricks to reduce common deficiencies in SBCE.



Publication History

Article published online:
21 September 2020

© 2020. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commecial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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