LONG-TERM OUTCOMES AFTER SINGLE-BALLOON ENTEROSCOPY IN PATIENTS WITH OBSCURE GASTROINTESTINAL BLEEDING

The small intestine has been, until recent years, a black box to gastroenterologists because it is difficult to see and reach. Radiological imaging provides little details of small intestinal mucosa. Capsule endoscopy, introduced in 2001, enables gastroenterologists to visualize the entire small intestine from within for the first time, but it is only a diagnostic tool. Single-balloon enteroscopy (SBE) is a new enteroscopy methods that use an overtube with one balloon or a spiral to help pleat bowel onto the endoscope and allow examination of the distal small bowel. This methods allow for biopsy, hemostasis, and other therapeutic interventions to be performed in the small bowel. Early reports have been promising; with 50-70% diagnostic yield for small bowel pathology reported in the literature. However, despite these promising results the impact SBE findings on patient outcomes is not clear.