Impact of small bowel capsule endoscopy in obscure gastrointestinal bleeding patients

Background and aim: About 5% of all patients with gastrointestinal bleeding are classified as obscure gastrointestinal bleeders (OGIB). OGIB is the most frequent indication of small bowel capsule endoscopy (CE). We retrospectively analysed the clinical outcome and therapeutical impact of CE examinations performed by OGIB indications in a 3 year period. Patients and methods The Hungarian National Health Insurance started to reimburse small bowel CE in August 2011. Since that time we performed a total of 228 small bowel CE examinations in OGIB patients. The clinical appearance of bleeding in 35 patients was melaen…