Aspiration of a small bowel video capsule: a rare complication

Video capsule endoscopy (VCE) is a non-invasive tool for the direct visualisation of the small bowel mucosa with a reported complication rate of 1%–3%.1 2 Capsule retention is the most common complication, accounting for 1.5%–2%.1 We present the case of a 72-year-old man with a medical history of inflammatory bowel disease, previous small bowel perforation and ileostomy, undergoing investigation for a high output stoma. Comorbidities included type 2 diabetes. He had no history of dysphagia and reported no swallowing problems. The patient underwent VCE after passing a patency capsule of identical dimensions, which exited the stoma 13 hours after ingestion. Following ingestion of the capsule (PillCam SB2, Given Imaging, Yokneam, Israel), the images received on the real-time viewer suggested initial location of the …