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Possible pill cam complications?

In March had a colonoscopy that showed no signs of Crohn’s so possibly in remission. Doctors wanted to do pill cam to double check as my ulcers have always been in terminal ilium so possible to miss with scope.

Did pill cam in April with no issues except it didn’t get far enough to see terminal ilium before returning recorder. KUD showed pill cam had exited body a week later.

This week redid pill cam on Monday. Do not think pill has left body yet but not positive. Had no issues until last night. Woke up with a band of pain around belly button area of abdomen. Pain has persisted and isn’t typical for me. It is now more crampy and localized to my diaphragm area.

I have left a message with my GI but does anyone have experience with this subject? Does this sound like the pill is causing issues? I have never had fistulas and again, colonoscopy in March looked clean.

Any insights would be greatly appreciated.
 

my little penguin

Moderator
Staff member
Did you have an MRE prior to pill cam ?
Ds Gi requires imaging prior since the small intestine is not seen at all on a colonoscopy .
Pill cam can get “stuck “ if there is narrowing or scar tissue in the small intestine
Imaging is the only way to know
If pain gets bad please head to the Emergency room.
Better to be safe and have it looked at in person in this case .
 
No, did not have an MRE.

Wouldn’t the previous pill cam done only 8 weeks ago have shown any narrowing or scar tissue? Also had extensive ct scan at same time as colonoscopy in March and it showed no issues.
 

my little penguin

Moderator
Staff member
Ct scan with entography (where you had to drink a ton )?
It just ct scan .

Why would you re do a pill cam if you just had one 8 weeks ago ?
Did you symptoms get significantly worse over that time period ??
Ct scan with entography should show issues
 
Ct scan with entography (where you had to drink a ton )?
It just ct scan .

Why would you re do a pill cam if you just had one 8 weeks ago ?
Did you symptoms get significantly worse over that time period ??
Ct scan with entography should show issues
It was a Ct entography.

the pill cam 8 weeks ago was inconclusive. They stopped recording before the pill got to the TI which is where my ulcers have always been. Hence doing another one so soon. They were trying to confirm that I am indeed in remission.
 

my little penguin

Moderator
Staff member
So in that case what tends to happen is the pill cam bounces around in the stomach too long to get a full view of the entire small intestine
Do they see the pill cam exit the TI this time ?
To avoid that in the future they can place the pill cam during the upper endoscopy in the duodenum so you get a clear view of the entire small intestine
We have done this for my kiddo twice
Since he has delayed gastric emptying
 
So in that case what tends to happen is the pill cam bounces around in the stomach too long to get a full view of the entire small intestine
Do they see the pill cam exit the TI this time ?
To avoid that in the future they can place the pill cam during the upper endoscopy in the duodenum so you get a clear view of the entire small intestine
We have done this for my kiddo twice
Since he has delayed gastric emptying
Don’t know yet as it takes them 1 to 2 weeks to read the results. But I will keep this in mind for next time. Thanks.
 
I would not take no response to mean the doctor isn’t worried. The doctor may not have received your message.

From what I can see, stuck pull cams cause abdominal pain, bloating and nausea or vomiting. I would recontact your doctor if pain persists.
 
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