Video-capsule endoscopy gastric and small bowel transit time and completeness of the examination in patients with diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Background Small intestine video-capsule endoscopy examination in patients with diabetes mellitus may be incomplete due to delayed gastric emptying. Aim To measure video-capsule endoscopy gastric and small bowel transit time and to assess the completeness of the examination in diabetes mellitus patients. Methods In this retrospective, case-control study, we examined capsule endoscopy videos from 29 consecutive diabetes mellitus patients. Fifty-eight matched for sex, type of preparation, age and reason for referral non-diabetic controls were selected from our video-capsule endoscopy database. Two independent experienced investigators measured transit times and assessed examinations’ completeness. Results Video-capsule endoscopy gastric transit time was significantly longer in diabetes mellitus (87, 1–478 min) compared to non-diabetic patients (24, 4–108 min, p < 0.001). The caecum was visualized in 20/29 (69%) diabetes mellitus and 52/58 (89.6%) non-diabetic controls ( p = 0.02). In 16 diabetes mellitus patients that video-capsule endoscopy reached the caecum, small bowel transit time was significantly shorter (261.2 ± 55.5 min) compared to their 32 non-diabetic matched controls (302 ± 62.7 min, p = 0.03). Conclusions Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus have prolonged video-capsule endoscopy gastric transit time compared to non-diabetic patients. Prospective studies are required to complete our understanding of video-capsule endoscopy transit times in the setting of diabetes mellitus.