The SB capsule endoscopy is used to investigate gastrointestinal bleeding and evaluate small bowel inflammation or polyps - usually when other methods have failed. It can also be used to investigate anaemia and changes in bowel habits.

In certain chronic gastrointestinal diseases, this method can also be used to monitor the effect of treatment.

Your Consultant may also recommend a SB capsule endoscopy if you aren’t suitable for other, more invasive endoscopy procedures.

SB capsule endoscopy is a safe, minimally invasive procedure which can be carried out without sedation, making it more patient-friendly than traditional endoscopy. It allows your Consultant to view the entire small intestine, an area that’s difficult to reach with standard methods.

SB capsule endoscopy is especially effective in detecting conditions which other tests may miss, including unexplained colonic bleeding, Crohn’s disease, iron deficiency anaemia, and suspected tumours or polyps of the small bowel.

You’ll need minimal preparation for the test, and can continue your daily activities during the procedure, making it a convenient and efficient diagnostic option. You’ll only spend a short time in hospital as the test can be carried out whilst you do your normal activities.

Seven days before the test

If you’re taking iron tablets, you should stop taking them.

Three days before the test

Start a low residue diet; this includes only eating foods low in fibre and avoiding foods high in fibre.

Day before the test

If your procedure is in the morning, you shouldn’t eat solid food after 6pm the day before. You can continue to drink clear fluids throughout the day, and up to two hours before the test.

If possible. you should stop taking medication such as codeine, morphine, tramadol, and anti-diarrhoea medicine (including Loperamide and Imodium), as these can slow the passage of the capsule through the small bowel.

If you’re unsure whether you take any of these, please ask.

We’ll ask you to attend the hospital early in the morning of the procedure (usually at about 8-8.30am). Your Consultant will attach a data recorder to your abdomen to collect the information from the capsule endoscope.

You’ll swallow the PillCam™ capsule with water and it’ll pass naturally through the stomach into the small bowel while transmitting video images to the data recorder.

Your Consultant will ask you to swallow a vitamin pill-sized video capsule which has its own camera and light source. As the capsule moves through your body, it sends images to a data recorder.

The recording lasts approximately eight hours, during which time you’ll be free to move around.

Between swallowing and excreting the capsule, you must avoid any powerful electromagnetic fields – for example, an MRI scanner or airport body scanner - due to the metal parts in the capsule. We also ask that you avoid getting the data recorder wet.

After swallowing the capsule, you can resume normal activities, including returning to work. Two hours after swallowing the capsule, you’ll be able to drink clear liquids again. Four hours after swallowing the capsule, you can eat and drink normally again.

After a minimum of eight hours, please remove the pads and leads or belt. Place them and the data recorder in a bag and return them to our hospital.

After the test, we’ll process the information from the data recorder and review the video taken by the capsule. A report will be sent to your Consultant, who will be in touch to discuss the next steps.

The capsule is disposable and will pass from your body naturally and painlessly within two weeks when you go to the toilet. If you have any concerns regarding the passage of the capsule, please contact us.

Although complications may occur, they are rare. The capsule may get stuck if you have narrowing of the bowel (stricture), and this may require surgery. Your Consultant will check whether this applies to you, and, in this case, we’ll offer an alternative to capsule endoscopy. If you don’t suffer with strictures, the risk of the capsule getting stuck is around 1%.

If you develop abdominal pain post procedure, please call the number on your discharge letter or NHS 111 immediately.