title: [Video-capsule endoscopy in children with unexplained symptoms of the small intestine].
abstract: Video-capsule endoscopy was used in 4 children with unexplained symptoms of the small intestine. Each patient swallowed a capsule of 11 by 27 mm, which contained a camera that takes 2 images per second (in children aged less than 8 years, the capsule was placed in the duodenum under sedation). In a 3-year-old girl with rectal bleeding following partial resection of the colon and small intestine, ulcers were seen proximal to the ileorectal anastomosis. In a 14-year-old boy with Crohn's disease and an abnormal growth curve, multiple stenoses of the small intestine were seen. In an 8-year-old boy with rectal bleeding, a solitary polypoid mass was seen that, upon operation, appeared to be the result of a partially invaginated Meckel's diverticulum. In a 17-year-old boy with weight loss, rectal bleeding and colitis, abnormalities were seen that were consistent with Crohn's disease. Patients were treated based on the endoscopic results and subsequently recovered. Video-capsule endoscopy is non-invasive and painless and provides better images of the small intestine than a standard endoscopic and radiological examination.
authors.affiliation: Academisch Medisch Centrum/Universiteit van Amsterdam, Postbus 22.660, 1100 DD Amsterdam. m.m.tabbers@amc.nl
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Tabbers
authors.forename: K F
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Bruin
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Taminiau
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: de Ridder
authors.forename: O F
authors.initials: OF
authors.lastname: Norbruis
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Benninga
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002214:Capsules; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D020776:Endoscopes, Gastrointestinal; D016099:Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007410:Intestinal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D013686:Telemetry
chemical_list: D002214:Capsules