Digestive Diseases & Endoscopy - MacMurray Gastroenterology Auckland, New Zealand

Overview of video capsule endoscopy (VCE)

Capsule endoscopy is a procedure designed to help the doctor to see what is happening inside parts of your gastrointestinal (GI) tract. The GI tract is the tube which extends from the mouth to the anus. During the procedure, a patient swallows a vitamin-sized pill with a camera inside. Transported smoothly and painlessly through the GI tract by the body’s own natural peristalsis, the video capsule transmits images of different parts of your body such as the small intestine and the oesophagus. Since the first video capsule was approved by the FDA in 2001, more than 700,000 patients have safely swallowed one of the video capsules.

Capsule endoscopy is the least invasive and most direct way for doctors to see the entire small intestine and oesophagus. Hundreds of clinical studies conducted by the world’s leading gastroenterologists have shown the value of the video capsules in helping doctors diagnose or rule out disorders of the GI tract

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Patient information on pillcam

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