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OBJECTIVES

Capsule endoscopy (CE) allows for direct evaluation of the small bowel mucosa in patients with Crohn's disease (CD). A number of studies have revealed significantly improved yield for CE over other modalities for the diagnosis of CD, but as sample sizes have been small, the true degree of benefit is uncertain. Additionally, it is not clear whether patients with a suspected initial presentation of CD and those with suspected recurrent disease are equally likely to benefit from CE. The aim of this study was to evaluate the yield of CE compared with other modalities in symptomatic patients with suspected or established CD using meta-analysis.

METHODS

We performed a recursive literature search of prospective studies comparing the yield of CE to other modalities in patients with suspected or established CD. Data on yield among various modalities were extracted, pooled, and analyzed. Incremental yield …