[Double balloon endoscopy in diagnosis of patients with obscure gastrointestinal bleeding].

OBJECTIVE

To assess the diagnostic value of double balloon endoscopy (DBE) for obscure gastrointestinal bleeding (OGIB)

METHODS

The data of 103 OGIB patients who underwent DBE from January 2007 to September 2010 in the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine were retrospectively analyzed.

RESULTS

DBE was successfully performed in all 103 patients without complications. Of 103 patients, 66(64.1 %) had positive DBE findings and 28 had surgery procedures(27.2 %). Ninety-four patients finally acquired positive diagnosis, including small intestine tumor(31.1 %), angiodysplasia(22.3 %), exulceratio simplex(9.7 %), Crohn's disease(6.8 %), diverticulum(4.9 %), abdominal purpure(4.9 %), etc. Lesions occurred more frequently in proximal small intestine than in distal small intestine (56.3 % Compared with 30.1 %, P<0.001).

CONCLUSION

DBE is a safe, effective and reliable procedure for the diagnosis of OGIB.