Double Balloon Enteroscopy (DBE) Compared to Capsule Endoscopy (CE) Among Patients with Obscure Gastrointestinal Bleeding (OGIB): A Multicenter U.S. Experience

DBE and CE were recently developed to evaluate diseases of the small intestine. Aim: To compare DBE and CE in diagnosing and treating OGIB in the small intestine. Methods: All cases from 6 tertiary care centers from 8/2004-8/2005 were reviewed. This is an analysis of small bowel findings in patients that had CE done prior to DBE for the purpose of OGIB. Results: DBE was performed for OGIB in 130 of 188 patients (69.1%). 115/130 (88.5%) patients had prior CE: 63 (54.8%) had a potential bleeding source on CE (group 1); 45.2% were negative (group 2).