Colon PillCam: Why Not Just Take a Pill?

This review article deals with the clinical value of capsule endoscopy for visualization of the colon. Since its introduction in 2006, the colon capsule endoscopy underwent major technological improvements. The improved performance of colon capsule endoscopy is reviewed based on three multicenter prospective studies. Screening patients for colonic adenomatous polyps is reasonable in patients who are unwilling to undergo conventional colonoscopy. Another prospective study proved that colon capsule endoscopy is effective in incomplete colonoscopy. Colon capsule endoscopy was shown to be superior to virtual colonography in the evaluation of patients with incomplete colonoscopy. Further improvements are expected in colon capsule endoscopy.

[1]  C. Mulder,et al.  Colonic work-up after incomplete colonoscopy: significant new findings during follow-up , 2010, Endoscopy.

[2]  M. Lapalus,et al.  Capsule endoscopy versus colonoscopy for the detection of polyps and cancer. , 2009, The New England journal of medicine.

[3]  A. Amato,et al.  Accuracy of capsule colonoscopy and computed tomographic colonography in individuals with positive results from the fecal occult blood test. , 2014, Clinical gastroenterology and hepatology : the official clinical practice journal of the American Gastroenterological Association.

[4]  R Eliakim,et al.  Prospective multicenter performance evaluation of the second-generation colon capsule compared with colonoscopy. , 2009, Endoscopy.

[5]  Angela Fagerlin,et al.  Adherence to colorectal cancer screening: a randomized clinical trial of competing strategies. , 2012, Archives of internal medicine.

[6]  C. Hassan,et al.  Colon capsule versus CT colonography in patients with incomplete colonoscopy: a prospective, comparative trial , 2014, Gut.

[7]  Guido Costamagna,et al.  Second-generation colon capsule endoscopy compared with colonoscopy. , 2011, Gastrointestinal endoscopy.

[8]  Y. Kopelman,et al.  Evaluation of the PillCam Colon capsule in the detection of colonic pathology: results of the first multicenter, prospective, comparative study. , 2006, Endoscopy.

[9]  Ennis,et al.  Correction: Use of Colonoscopy to Screen Asymptomatic Adults for Colorectal Cancer. , 2000, The New England journal of medicine.

[10]  C. Williams,et al.  A prospective study of colonoscopy practice in the UK today: are we adequately prepared for national colorectal cancer screening tomorrow? , 2004, Gut.

[11]  A Van Gossum,et al.  PillCam colon capsule endoscopy compared with colonoscopy for colorectal tumor diagnosis: a prospective pilot study , 2006, Endoscopy.

[12]  S. Vernon.  Adherence to Colorectal Cancer Screening , 1995, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

[13]  L. Påhlman,et al.  Patient factors influencing the completion rate in colonoscopy. , 2005, Digestive and liver disease : official journal of the Italian Society of Gastroenterology and the Italian Association for the Study of the Liver.