Clinical profile, diagnostic yield, and procedural outcomes of single balloon enteroscopy: A tertiary care hospital experience

BACKGROUND: Single balloon enteroscopy (SBE) allows ease of access for small bowel visualization and has multiple diagnostic and therapeutic indications. It provides the advantage of performing various therapeutic interventions alongside the diagnostic procedure. SBE has also been considered a relatively safe procedure with no major complications. AIM: To investigate the indications, safety, and clinical yield of SBE, and determine its effect on disease outcome. METHODS: A retrospective, descriptive study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital in Karachi, Pakistan. Medical records of 56 adult patients (≥ 18 years) who underwent SBE between July 2013 and December 2021 were reviewed and data were collected using a structured proforma. A descriptive analysis of the variables was performed using Statistical Package of Social Sciences Version 19. Results are reported as the mean ± SD for quantitative variables and numbers and percentages for qualitative variables. Missing data are reported as unknown. RESULTS: A total of 56 patients who underwent 61 SBE procedures were included. The mean age was 50.93 ± 16.16 years, with 53.6% of them being males. Hypertension (39.3%) and diabetes mellitus (25.0%) were the most common pre-existing comorbidities. Obscure gastrointestinal bleed (39.3%) was the most common indication for enteroscopy, followed by chronic diarrhea (19.7%) and unexplained anemia (16.4%). The majority of procedures were performed in the endoscopy suite (90.2%) under monitored anaesthesia care (93.4%). Most procedures were diagnostic (91.8%) and completed without complications (95.1%). The depth of examination ranged from 95 cm to 500 cm with a mean of 282.05 ± 90.04 cm. The most common findings were inflammation and ulcerations (29.5%), followed by masses (19.7%) and vascular malformations (14.8%). As a result of the findings, a new diagnosis was made in 47.5% of the cases and a previous one was ruled out in 24.6% of them; 65.6% of the cases had a change in management. CONCLUSION: SBE is a suitable modality for investigating diseases in the small bowel. It is shown to be technically efficient and reasonably safe and is associated with high diagnostic and therapeutic yield.