The effect of metoclopramide in capsule endoscopy.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Although video capsule endoscopy (CE) is now an established modality for examining the small bowel, in almost 20 - 50 % cases, the capsule does not reach the colon by the end of the recording time. The aim of this study was to investigate whether metoclopramide increases the completion rate of CE examination.

METHODOLOGY

One hundred patients who underwent CE were classified to receive either intravenous treatment with metoclopramide (metoclopramide group: 43 cases) or no treatment at all (control group: 57 cases).

RESULTS

GTT was 18.9 +/- 21.6 min in the metoclopramide group and 37.4 +/- 45.3 min in the control group (p = 0.0053). The capsule reached the cecum in 31 cases (75.6%) of the metoclopramide group and in 38 cases (69.1%) of the control group (p = 0.482). The SBTT and the combined GTT and SBTT were 276.8 +/- 108.9 min, 293.0 +/- 109.4 min in the metoclopramide group and 305.5 +/- 86.9 min, 339.4 +/- 89.2 min in the control group (p = 0.122, p = 0.035).

CONCLUSION

Although 10 mg of metoclopramide with intravenous drip had shortened the GTT and the combined GTT and SBTT, there was no improvement in the rate of complete small bowel examination and the results of diagnostic yield. Further investigations are necessary to evaluate the concomitant use of other prokinetics or preparations to improve the rate of complete small bowel examination.