Your GI clinic offers many innovative ways to assess and diagnose digestive system diseases and problems. In fact, capsule endoscopy is one of the easiest GI tests; yet it yields a wealth of information pertinent to many diagnoses.
Let’s learn more about this procedure, what conditions it may reveal, and where you can go in California for comprehensive gastrointestinal Care.
How Does Capsule Endoscopy Work?
The GI specialist first determines that the patient requires a video examination of the interior of the small intestine. Unresolved complaints regarding the lower GI area – weight loss, pain, rectal bleeding and anemia are often the reasons behind ordering this minimally invasive test.
Much easier than traditional endoscopy, or inserting a tube plus a miniature video camera through the digestive tract, capsule endoscopy involves swallowing a vitamin pill-sized camera. As the capsule travels through the small intestine, the tiny camera sends video images to a recording device the patient wears outside the body. Amazingly, this little device can take thousands of clear images of the lining of the small intestine, reports John Hopkins Medicine.
Before swallowing the capsule, the individual consumes a clear liquid diet for 24 hours. Laxatives may be required for some patients. After midnight on the video recording day, the patient must fast from all solid foods and liquids.
With the received video images, the specialist can see areas of malformation, chronic conditions, or disease, such as cancer. The pill camera passes naturally through the rectum in a day or two.
Patients prefer this type of endoscopy because preparation for the procedure is simple and well-tolerated. The test requires no sedation or anesthesia. Plus, people can return to their normal activities quickly without restriction.
What Conditions Does Capsule Endoscopy Help Diagnose?
Capsule endoscopy helps to diagnose the following GI health problems.
Irritable bowel disease, an inflammatory condition that disrupts the lining of the large bowel.
Crohn’s disease, an autoimmune condition in which the immune system attacks the gastrointestinal tract from the mouth and esophagus to the large intestine, rectum, and anus
Polyps, benign growths which can be hereditary
Tumors, including benign and cancerous growths in the small intestine
Celiac disease, a sensitivity to gluten, a protein in much of today’s processed wheat products
Strictures and pouches, or narrowing and pockets form in the lining of the intestines.
Varicose veins, swollen, twisted blood vessels are usually located in the upper GI tract.
Capsule endoscopy also gives GI specialists additional information and images they need to clarify a diagnosis made by X-ray or other kinds of assessment.
The Most Advanced Gastrointestinal Care in California
You can receive it at one of our 20 affiliated medical practices throughout the state. Genensis Healthcare Partners is pleased to offer patients of all ages the accurate assessments, diagnoses, and treatments they need to achieve and maintain their best GI health.
To learn more about capsule endoscopy or other state-of-the-art services we provide, contact us for a consultation at the location nearest to you. Or, if you prefer, request your visit through our homepage. We will be honored to be of service to you.