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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staff
Capsule endoscopy is a procedure that uses a tiny wireless camera to take pictures of your digestive tract. A capsule endoscopy camera sits inside a vitamin-sized capsule that you swallow. As the capsule travels through your digestive tract, the camera takes thousands of pictures that are transmitted to a recorder you wear on a belt around your waist.
Capsule endoscopy helps doctors see inside your small intestine — an area that isn't easily reached with more-traditional endoscopy procedures. Traditional endoscopy involves passing a long, flexible tube equipped with a video camera down your throat or through your rectum. Capsule endoscopy is usually initiated in your doctor's office.
Capsule endoscopy is sometimes referred to as capsule enteroscopy or small bowel endoscopy.
- Eliakim R. Video capsule endoscopy of the small bowel. Current Opinion in Gastroenterology. 2010;26:129.
- Cave D. Wireless video capsule endoscopy. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed May 26, 2010.
- Kimmey MB. Complications of gastrointestinal endoscopy. In: Feldman M, et al. Sleisinger and Fordtran's Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease. 9th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders; 2010. http://www.mdconsult.com/book/player/linkTo?type=bookHome&isbn=978-1-4160-6189-2&eid=4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-6189-2..X0001-7--TOP&uniq=200844987-3. Accessed May 26, 2010.
- Understanding capsule endoscopy. American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. http://www.asge.org/PatientInfoIndex.aspx?id=390. Accessed May 25, 2010.
- Preparing for capsule endoscopy. American Gastroenterological Association. http://www.gastro.org/patient-center/procedures/capsule-endoscopy. Accessed May 25, 2010.
- Picco MP (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Fla. June 15, 2010.
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