The effect of erythromycin on video capsule endoscopy intestinal-transit time

Abstract

Background: Video capsule endoscopy (VCE) will fail to reach the cecum in 20% of patients within the 8-hour battery life. The use of prokinetics to improve VCE completion rates to the cecum remains unclear. The objective of this study was to determine whether erythromycin increases the completion rate of VCE to the cecum without adversely affecting image quality. Methods: This was a prospective, randomized, single-blinded control trial at St. Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia. A total of 86 consecutive patients referred for VCE were considered for entry; 45 patients met the entry criteria. These 45 patients were prospectively randomized to no erythromycin (controls, n = 23) or 250 mg ..