Findings in the Colon

Colonic cleansing is not routine for small bowel video capsule endoscopy (VCE), and the capsule usually is not propelled beyond the hepatic flexure, so colonic viewing is not optimal. Nevertheless, longer battery times, improved illumination, and increasing use of bowel preparation before small bowel VCE can provide relevant colonic findings. Cases with colonic findings detected during small bowel VCE but missed at preceding colonoscopy were described soon after the introduction of small bowel VCE [1]. The proportion of patients in whom colonic findings are identified during an investigation of obscure gastrointestinal bleeding ranges from 0 to 4 % [2–4]; for cohorts with all small bowel indications, the range is 0–9 % [5, 6]. Hence, it seems important to evaluate the colonic images as well.