title: Outcome of patients who have undergone total enteroscopy for obscure gastrointestinal bleeding.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the diagnostic success and outcome among patients with obscure gastrointestinal bleeding who underwent total enteroscopy with double-balloon endoscopy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Total enteroscopy was attempted in 156 patients between August 2003 and June 2008 at Hiroshima University Hospital and achieved in 75 (48.1%). It is assessed whether sources of bleeding were identified, treatment methods, complications, and 1-year outcomes (including re-bleeding) after treatment, and we compared re-bleeding rates among patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The source of small bowel bleeding was identified in 36 (48.0%) of the 75 total enteroscopy patients; the source was outside the small bowel in 11 patients (14.7%) and not identified in 28 patients (37.3%). Sixty-one of the 75 patients were followed up for more than 1 year (27.2 ± 13.3 mo). Four (6.6%) of these patients showed signs of re-bleeding during the first year, but bleeding did not recur after treatment. Although statistical significance was not reached, a marked difference was found in the re-bleeding rate between patients in whom total enteroscopy findings were positive (8.6%, 3/35) and negative (3.8%, 1/26) (3/35 vs 1/26, P = 0.63).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A good outcome can be expected for patients who undergo total enteroscopy and receive proper treatment for the source of bleeding in the small bowel.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima 734-8551, Japan.
authors.forename: Takayoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shishido
authors.forename: Shiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Oka
authors.forename: Shinji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Hiroki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Imagawa
authors.forename: Yoshito
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takemura
authors.forename: Shigeto
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Kazuaki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chayama
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D058582:Double-Balloon Enteroscopy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006471:Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome