Capsule endoscopy is a procedure that uses a tiny wireless camera to take pictures of the digestive tract. A capsule endoscopy camera sits inside a vitamin-size capsule that is swallowed. When the capsule travels through the digestive tract, the camera
takes thousands of pictures that are transmitted to a recorder worn on a belt around the waist. This procedure can provide benefits to traditional endoscopy which involves passing a long, flexible tube equipped with a video camera down the throat
or through the rectum.
When both endoscopy and colonoscopies fail to find the source of the GI-related concern, Children’s Hospital of Michigan’s Gastroenterology Department offers capsule endoscopy to diagnose conditions that are difficult to detect. It is a simple
process in which the patient simply swallows a capsule contains a tiny camera which takes images as it passes along the gastrointestinal tract. The collected images are then transferred wirelessly to an external receiver worn by the patient. After
a few hours, the images are transferred to a computer for review and interpretation.
Indications for Capsule Endoscopy
A pediatric specialist might recommend a capsule endoscopy procedure to:
Determine the cause of unexplained gastrointestinal bleeding.
Evaluate patients with suspected Crohn’s disease
Diagnose small bowel tumors.
Screen for polyps.
Evaluate chronic abdominal pain of unknown etiology.
"This is a dialog window which overlays the main content of the page and plays an embedded YouTube video. Pressing the Close Modal button at the bottom of the modal or pressing the Escape key will close the modal and bring you back to where you were on the page.
