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World J Gastrointest Endosc. Mar 16, 2015; 7(3): 247-252
Published online Mar 16, 2015. doi: 10.4253/wjge.v7.i3.247
Examining the whole bowel, double balloon enteroscopy: Indications, diagnostic yield and complications
Fatih Saygili, Saba Mukaddes Saygili, Erkin Oztas
Fatih Saygili, Erkin Oztas, Department of Gastroenterology, Turkiye Yuksek Ihtisas Education and Research Hospital, 06040 Ankara, Turkıye
Saba Mukaddes Saygili, Department of Intensive Care, Ankara University, 06040 Ankara, Turkıye
Author contributions: Saygili F and Saygili SM did the bibliography search and wrote the simple draft of the review; Oztas E wrote the main points and edited the last end detailed version with improved English language.
Conflict-of-interest: None of the authors have any conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Erkin Oztas, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Gastroenterology, Turkiye Yuksek Ihtisas Education and Research Hospital, Hacettepe Mh., 06040 Ankara, Turkıye. erkinous@yahoo.com
Telephone: +90-505-5025495 Fax: +90-312-3124120
Received: August 29, 2014
Peer-review started: August 29, 2014
First decision: November 1, 2014
Revised: November 15, 2014
Accepted: December 16, 2014
Article in press: December 17, 2014
Published online: March 16, 2015
Processing time: 203 Days and 9.8 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Double balloon enteroscopy (DBE) is a novel technique of great interest as the clinician gains the opportunity of examining the whole small bowel without any surgical intervention. Diagnostic and therapeutic ability of the procedure influences the importance and common use of DBE for patients with documented or suspected small bowel disease. This review summarizes the indications, diagnostic yield and complications of the procedure according to the worldwide knowledge since 2001.