Prospective multicenter trial of capsule endoscopy in patients with chronic abdominal pain, diarrhea and other signs and symptoms (CEDAP-Plus Study)

Background On the basis of the published data, capsule endoscopy cannot be recommended in patients whose only symptom is chronic abdominal pain. The present study therefore focused on the diagnostic yield of capsule endoscopy in patients with chronic abdominal pain who were also suffering from additional symptoms. Patients and methods A total of 50 patients with chronic abdominal pain, plus other symptoms singly or in combination were enrolled in this prospective multicenter trial. The "plus" symptoms or signs consisted of weight loss (> 10 % of body weight), inflammation shown by laboratory tests, chronic anemia, or suspected mid-gastrointestinal bleeding. Chronic diarrhea was recorded if …