Ingestion of Simethicone After Capsule Ingestion and Its Impact on Quality of Video Capsule Endoscopy- a Pilot Study

Currently various studies have been done that give multiple comparisons between various bowel preparation in terms of small bowel transit time (SBTT), diagnostic yield (DY), small bowel visualization quality (SBVQ), completion rate (CR). Studies suggest that using Polyethylene glycol (PEG) prep is significantly better compared to clear liquid and overnight fast in terms if SBVQ and DY (Rokkas et al 2009). Other studies have shown using simethicone 30 minutes before capsule ingestion increases visibility compared to clear liquid and PEG preparation but no significant difference in gastrointestinal transit time or examination completion rate (Wei et al 2008). No studies have been done where simethicone is ingested after capsule swallowing.

Simethicone helps absorb the air bubble in the lumen which can improve the image quality. It decreases the surface tension of gas bubbles thereby dissolving them and preventing gas pockets from forming in GI system. It's often used over the counter for gas relief. Gastric emptying time is usually less than 5 hours, small bowel transit time is usually less than 6 hours, and colonic transit time is usually less than 59 hours (Rao et al 2009). Giving simethicone till 2 hours after swallowing capsule can help clear gas bubble before the capsule migrates into the small bowel.

Albert et al 2004 gave patients 80mg simethicone before swallowing the wireless capsule for their study. Wei et al 2008 gave 300mg of simethicone 20 minutes before swallowing the capsule. Chen et al 2011 gave 20ml (40mg/ml) simethicone 30 minutes before capsule ingestion which amounts to 800 mg total. Current FDA recommendation for adults is 500mg maximum daily dose. The liquid form comes in concentration of 20mg/0.3ml which constitutes to 7.5 ml for 500mg dose.