Single balloon enteroscopy for diagnosis of small bowel diseases

Objective To evaluate the safety, indications and clinical efficacy of single balloon enteroscopy （SBE） for diagnosis of small bowel diseases. Methods Data of 30 patients （ 21 males and 9 fe- males） with suspected small bowel diseases, who underwent SBE from June to September 2009, were retrospectively studied to analyze the access, procedure time and complications of SBE. Results A total of 35 SBE procedures were performed on 30 patients. Procedures were performed via oral, anal and the combined routes in 15, 10 and 5 cases, respectively, and definite diagnosis was made in 26 cases （86. 7% ）. The av- erage access times via oral and anal routes were 49.7 rain and 48.6 min, respectively. Patietns showed normal vital signs during the procedures. No such procedure-related complications as eadiovascular events, se- vere abdominal pain, bleeding or perforation, were observed. Conclusion SBE is a safe and reliable diag- nostic modality of high clinical value for small bowel diseases. Key words: Diagnosis;  Single balloon enteroscopy;  Small bowel diseases