The potential applications of capsule endoscopy in pediatric patients compared with adult patients.

Capsule endoscopy (CE) avoids the ionizing radiation, deep sedation, and general anesthesia required by other imaging modalities, making it particularly valuable in the evaluation of gastrointestinal disease in pediatric patients. In examining the use of CE in pediatric and adult patients through a review of the literature, it was observed that CE is most frequently indicated for the evaluation of Crohn's disease (CD) in pediatric patients and most frequently indicated for obscure gastrointestinal bleeding (OGIB) in adults, although OGIB is a more frequent indication than CD in pediatric patients younger than 8 years of age. Diagnostic accuracy has been good and comparable to that of magnetic resonance enterography, and capsule retention rates as well as other adverse events appear to be low in pediatric patients. Research is needed to explore broader indications and applications of CE in the diagnosis and monitoring of gastrointestinal disease.