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Capsule Endoscopy in Brisbane

Involves swallowing a tiny camera that takes pictures of your digestive tract and transmits them to your doctor for review.

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What is capsule endoscopy?

Capsule endoscopy is a convenient and effective way to examine your whole digestive tract, including your small intestine, which can be difficult to reach with traditional methods.

Under your doctor’s guidance, you swallow a tiny camera that’s about the size of a vitamin pill.

You’ll wear a recorder on a special belt around your waist, connected to antenna patches on your abdomen. The camera inside you sends images to the antenna patches. They feed data to the recorder, which collects and stores the images.

Why might you need a capsule endoscopy?

Capsule endoscopy can be used to:

  • Find the cause of gastrointestinal bleeding
  • Diagnose (or assist in diagnosing)
    • Crohn’s disease or other inflammation of the small intestine
    • Cancer in the digestive tract
    • Coeliac disease
capsule endoscopy

What happens during a capsule endoscopy?

1

Once you’ve swallowed the camera, you can usually go about your day as normal. You need to avoid strenuous exercise but you can drive and go to work (if your job is quite sedate).

2

You can drink clear liquids about 2 hours after you swallow the camera and can have a light lunch or snack about 4 hours afterwards.

3

The procedure finishes after about 8 hours, either because the camera stops recording or because you’ve passed the camera in a bowel movement and flushed it down the toilet. After that, you can remove the patches from your abdomen and pack them and the recorder in a bag to return to your doctor.

4

Some people take a little longer to expel the camera. In most cases, that’s absolutely fine – each person’s digestive system has its own speed. However, if you still haven’t seen the camera in the toilet after 2 weeks, please tell your doctor.

Preparing for a capsule endoscopy may involve:

  • Fasting beforehand to help the camera capture clear images of your digestive tract
  • Taking a laxative to flush out your small intestine
  • Adjusting or stopping certain medications before the procedure
  • Arranging time off work if your job involves strenuous exercise or heavy lifting.

Your doctor will give you more precise instructions appropriate to your situation.

The thousands of photos taken during your capsule endoscopy are turned into a video, which your doctor watches to find any abnormalities within your digestive tract.

You’ll be asked to come for a follow-up appointment to discuss the findings and next steps. Sometimes your capsule endoscopy enables us to diagnose a particular condition that explains your symptoms. On other occasions, it provides reassurance, ruling out conditions you may have been worried about.

How can Serenity Gastroenterology help?

At Serenity Gastroenterology, we provide specialist consultation and investigations (including capsule endoscopy) to investigate gastrointestinal symptoms and enable diagnosis and treatment.

Key points to remember

A capsule endoscopy:

Capsule endoscopy involves swallowing a tiny camera that takes pictures of your digestive tract for your doctor to assess.

Can help diagnose or rule out a number of gastrointestinal conditions.

Some preparation is required but you can usually go about your day as normal.

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