About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
What you can expect
By Mayo Clinic staff
During capsule endoscopy
On the day of your capsule endoscopy, your health care team will meet with you to review what will be done during the procedure. You may be asked to remove your shirt so that several adhesive patches can be attached to your abdomen. Each patch contains an antenna with wires that connect to a recorder. Some devices don't require the patches attached to your skin. You wear the recorder on a special belt around your waist. As the camera capsule passes through your intestine taking pictures, the images are transmitted to an antenna on your abdomen, which feeds the data to the recorder. The recorder collects and stores the images.
Once the recorder is connected and ready, your health care team will give you a glass of water and instruct you to swallow the camera capsule. The capsule is about the size of a large vitamin pill. A slippery coating makes it easier to swallow.
You may feel the capsule as you swallow it. But once it has passed beyond your throat, you won't feel it as it moves through your body.
You'll then be allowed to go about your day. You can drive and you may be able to go back to work, depending on your job. Your doctor will discuss any restrictions with you. For instance, you may be asked to avoid strenuous exercise or any activity that disrupts the recorder.
After the capsule endoscopy
Wait two hours after you swallow the capsule to resume drinking clear liquids. Four hours after you swallow the capsule, you can have a light lunch or a snack. The capsule will be far enough along in your digestive system that eating and drinking won't interfere with the pictures.
The capsule endoscopy procedure is complete after eight hours or when you see the camera capsule in the toilet after a bowel movement, whichever comes first. Remove the antenna patches and the recorder. Pack them in a bag and follow your doctor's instructions for returning the equipment.
You don't need to collect the camera capsule — it can be safely flushed down the toilet.
Your body may expel the camera capsule within hours, or it may be expelled after several days. Each person's digestive system is different. If you don't see the capsule in the toilet within two weeks, contact your doctor. An X-ray may be done to see if the capsule is still in your body.
- 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.
Find Mayo Clinic on