Bowel preparation with still water for small bowel capsule endoscopy: Less is more

Table 1 Baseline characteristics of the study population, n (%)/mean ± SD

Variable	Study population
Gender
Female	167 (64.0)
Male	94 (36.0)
Age (years)	51 ± 18
Hospital
Unidade Local de Saúde do Alto Ave	235 (90.0)
Hospital do Divino Espírito Santo de Ponta Delgada	26 (10.0)
Indication for small bowel capsule endoscopy
Suspected small bowel bleeding or iron deficient anemia	98 (37.5)
Suspected CD	102 (39.1)
Established CD	47 (18.0)
Others (celiac disease or polyposis syndromes)	14 (5.4)
Study protocol
Protocol 1 (1 L of PEG)	96 (36.8)
Protocol 2 (1 L of PEG and ascorbic acid)	93 (35.6)
Protocol 3 (1 L of water)	72 (27.6)
Complete examination	243 (93.1)
Adequate bowel preparation	228 (87.4)
Diagnostic yield	103 (39.5)
Angioectasia or active bleeding	12 (11.6)
Ulcers or erosions	89 (86.4)
Polyps	1 (1.0)
Villous atrophy or oedema	1 (1.0)

CD: Crohn’s disease; PEG: Polyethylene glycol.

Table 2 Comparison of other outcomes among the three protocols, n (%)/mean ± SD

Variable	Protocol 1 (1 L of PEG)	Protocol 2 (1 L of PEG and ascorbic acid)	Protocol 3 (1 L of water)	P value
Small bowel transit time (minutes)	207 ± 13	201 ± 14	242 ± 14	0.086
Small Bowel CLEansing Assessment and Report (points)	7.6 ± 0.2	7.9 ± 0.1	7.6 ± 0.2	0.236
First tertile	2.5 ± 0.1	2.7 ± 0.1	2.7 ± 0.1	0.165
Second tertile	2.6 ± 0.1	2.7 ± 0.1	2.6 ± 0.1	0.242
Third tertile	2.5 ± 0.7	2.6 ± 0.6	2.3 ± 0.7	0.021
Diagnostic yield
First tertile	12 (12.5)	9 (9.7)	12 (16.7)	0.407
Second tertile	9 (9.4)	17 (18.3)	8 (11.1)	0.163
Third tertile	34 (35.4)	30 (32.5)	26 (36.1)	0.850
Ingestion of the entire booster	81 (84.4)	77 (82.8)	68 (94.4)	0.068
Tolerability, in a scale from 0 to 5	2.8 ± 0.1	3.0 ± 0.2	0.6 ± 0.1	< 0.001

PEG: Polyethylene glycol.