With the rapid development of medicine and the application of new clinical technology, many patients are no longer unfamiliar with the word “capsule endoscopy”. The most frequently asked questions are: “Is it possible to do capsule endoscopy without gastroscopy” or “Can capsule endoscopy examine the whole intestine”, “Do I need to cleanse the intestine for capsule endoscopy”, “Is capsule endoscopy uncomfortable? “, “capsule endoscopy and small intestinal microscopy which is better” and other such questions. For these questions, this article makes some simple introduction. 1.What is capsule endoscopy for? In fact, most patients refer to capsule endoscopy as small bowel capsule endoscopy, that is, it is specifically used to examine the small intestine. Within the family of capsule endoscopes, there are also esophageal capsule endoscopes, gastric capsule endoscopes, and colon capsule endoscopes. So, why are there so many different kinds, and why not use one all instead? This is because the structure of the digestive tract is different, the small intestine is the longest and thinnest part, while the esophagus is short and straight, the capsule passes through in a few seconds, if not a special device, it is easy to miss the lesion; the stomach is a larger cavity organ, many locations such as the fundus, is not easy to see, at present, there is already a capsule gastroscope that can actively remote control, can help us to find the previously invisible The colon is also much thicker than the small intestine, think about it, you carry a lamp, look at the roof, is not the lower the roof you see more clearly, so the capsule endoscope specifically for colon examination using two cameras to meet the needs of the relatively large intestinal cavity, and because the intestine is too long, in order to ensure that the capsule endoscope inspection of the entire large intestine and the battery is not depleted, the colon capsule endoscope will enter the body after After entering the human body, the colon capsule endoscope automatically rests for a period of time and “runs” inside the intestinal cavity before it starts working. Therefore, the best site for small bowel capsule endoscopy is the small intestine, but of course, there may be some findings when passing through the rest of the digestive tract. And patients who want to do the evaluation of the whole digestive tract must have gastroscopy + enteroscopy + capsule endoscopy. 2. Should I clear my bowels for capsule endoscopy? Mentioning this question, I also remember another common problem, often patients who want to do colonoscopy ask me, doctor I don’t want to drink laxatives, can I not eat for a few days? In fact, feces are constantly formed every day and mainly in the large intestine. Even if you don’t eat, your body is still metabolizing and forming feces, so you should definitely take laxatives for a colonoscopy. The small intestine is the main organ of nutrient absorption, so there are often some digestive juices in the small intestine, in order to see clearly, it is also necessary to take laxatives. But if there are some special circumstances, for example, consider the bleeding of the small intestine, bleeding is relatively large, this time to eat laxatives patients do not tolerate, is possible to swallow the capsule directly, mainly to help view the lesion site, to provide information for surgery. 3, capsule endoscopy is not uncomfortable? First let’s see how capsule endoscopy is done: before the examination the doctor will communicate with you about the necessity and risks of the examination, and then sign an informed consent form. You will need to fast for 10-12 h before the capsule endoscopy and take a laxative early in the morning on the day of the examination, in the same way as for a colonoscopy, which can be done at home. The capsule will then travel through the entire digestive tract, taking a continuous video of the passage and sending the image data wirelessly to the receiving device, which will receive the data and store it. Usually the whole procedure lasts 8 to 12 hours, during which the patient is free to leave the hospital, but usually the doctor will keep the patient in the hospital for the first half hour to one hour until the capsule enters the small intestine successfully. The capsule battery is depleted, or the capsule is not in the small intestine. When the capsule battery is depleted or after the capsule is expelled from the anus, the data logger can be removed and handed over to the doctor. So, as you can see, the whole process is very easy, convenient and painless. 4.Which is better, capsule endoscopy or small intestine microscopy? We say that each test has its unique advantages, so there is no best, only the most suitable. In terms of lesion detection rate, the detection rate of capsule endoscopy and small intestine microscopy is similar. The advantage of small intestine microscopy is that it can be treated at the same time as the examination, but small intestine microscopy needs to be done through the mouth and anus respectively, sometimes it is not always possible to do the whole small intestine, the cost is more than 10,000 yuan, and hospitalization is also required, and anesthesia is necessary. Capsule endoscopy, on the other hand, is much cheaper and can be done on an outpatient basis, but it cannot be done for patients with suspected obstruction because of the high risk of capsule retention. It follows that for most patients, capsule endoscopy is an appropriate option. It is important to specifically mention that some patients may require more than one small bowel examination. For example, frequent unexplained black stools or blood in the stool are partly due to vascular malformations, which bleed intermittently and may not be found positively if the examination waits until their bleeding stops, but are easier to detect if they are bleeding actively, so such patients may need several examinations before they are detected. At this time, capsule endoscopy is more timely and economical.