Diagnosis Value Of Double-balloon Enteroscopy In Small Bowel Diseases: Series Of 241 Cases

Objective:To evaluate the diagnostic value of double-balloon entoroscopy(DBE) in small bowel diseases.METHODS:The data about 241 patients with suspected small bowel disease who underwent DBE from January 2007 to June 2009 in our hospital were retrospectively analyzed.RESULTS:A total of 262 DBE procedures were performed in 241 patients. Double-balloon enteroscopies by oral and anal route were performed respectively in 163 and 99 patients of which 21 patients underwent a combination of both approaches.No hemorrhage, perforation, acute pancreatitis or other serious complications occurred. Among 211 cases who finally acquired positive diagnosis,171 cases (71%)with small bowel lesions were detected by DBE examination.Of the 70 negative DBE cases,40 cases with small bowel lesions were observed finally by surgery and capsule endoscopy (CE) etc. This study showed that small bowel tumor(57 cases 23.7%) was the most common disease followed by crohn's disease (54 cases,22.4%), angiodysplasia (23 cases,9.5%) and non-specific inflammation (18 cases,7.5%).It was noted that the incidences of small bowel tumor in jejunum and crohn's disease in ileum were significantly higher(P< 0.05).The detection rates of small bowel tumor and crohn's disease by DBE were significantly higher than that of angiodysplasia(P< 0.05).The diagnostic yield was 67.8% in obsure gastrointestinal bleeding,65.8% in chronic abodominal pain and 75% in chronic diarrhea.The lesion detection rates with different course of diseases (< 1 month,1-12 months,> 12 months)did not reach statistic difference(P> 0.05).Conclusions:DBE is a safe, effective and accurate procedure for the diagnosis of small bowel diseases.