Capsule endoscopy: a meta-analysis for use with obscure gastrointestinal bleeding and Crohn's disease.

In this study, CE was superior to push enteroscopy and small bowel radiography for diagnosing small bowel pathology in patients who had OGIB, and its yield may be comparable to intraoperative endoscopy. Incremental yield of CE over push enteroscopy and barium radiography is greater than 30% for clinically significant findings, primarily because visualization of additional vascular and inflammatory lesions is possible by CE.CE was also found to be superior to small bowel barium radiography, colonoscopy with ileoscopy, CT enterography, and push enteroscopy for diagnosing nonstricturing small bowel CD. These findings primarily result from a marked improvement in yield with the use of CE over all other methods in patients who had established CD and were evaluated for a small bowel recurrence. Because this analysis was designed to evaluate trials that examined the yield of various methods for the diagnosis of OGIB and CD, it is unknown whether these results will translate into improved patient outcomes with the use of CE versus alternate methods. Randomized controlled trials will be necessary to clarify this issue.