Small bowel findings by capsule endoscopy: A 20-year retrospective study in a referral clinic in Guatemala

Introduction: Capsule endoscopic procedures have been used in clinical practice since 2001. In our referral center procedures have been performed since 2004. There is little information on its use in Latin American countries. The aim of this study is to identify the main small bowel findings detected by capsule endoscopy in our referral center.
Materials and methods: A retrospective study of all patients who were evaluated by capsule endoscopy from 2004 to May 2024 in our reference clinic in Guatemala City was performed.
Results: A total of 360 patients were included in this study. The 53.1% of the patients were women, mean age 57 years (IQR 71-44). In our clinic we had the opportunity to use initially the M2A capsule manufactured by GIVEN imagen (later called SB1), followed by the SB2 capsule and currently we use the SB3 capsule. The main reason for performing the procedures was gastrointestinal bleeding in 59.4% of the patients. Some macroscopic pathology at the small bowel level could be identified in 83.6% of the cases.
Discussion: Capsule endoscopy has a high degree of identification of pathologic findings at the small bowel level and is used as the gold standard for small bowel pathology management.