The Importance of Alternative Diagnostic Modalities in the Diagnosis of Small Bowel Tumors After a Negative Capsule Endoscopy

Capsule endoscopy is widely accepted as the preferred diagnostic test in the evaluation of small bowel diseases, especially in the setting of obscure gastrointestinal bleeding. It has revolutionized small bowel examination and has improved the detection of small bowel tumors. However, small bowel tumors are sometimes missed by capsule endoscopy. Furthermore, there are several recent reports comparing capsule endoscopy with other diagnostic modalities, such as double balloon enteroscopy and CT/RM enterography, that challenge the reportedly high negative predictive value of capsule endoscopy in detecting small bowel tumors. We report the case of a patient with overt obscure gastrointestinal bleeding due to a gastrointestinal stromal tumor diagnosed by CT enterography after two negatives capsule endoscopies. This case shows that capsule endoscopy may overlook significant life threatening lesions and highlights the importance of using other diagnostic modalities after a negative capsule endoscopy, especially in patients with a high index of suspicion for small bowel tumoral pathology or persistent/recurrent bleeding.