Background: Patency capsule was developed to avoid small bowel video capsule endoscopy retention, namely in patients with Crohn's disease.
Aims: To evaluate the predictive factors of small bowel patency in Crohn's disease patients.
Patients and methods: Retrospective analysis including 151 Crohn's disease patients submitted to patency capsule (Agile® Patency Capsule) from 2011 to 2012. Patients that excreted the intact patency capsule were classified as having a patent small bowel (without patency capsule retention), other patients were considered to have negative patency of the small bowel (patency capsule retention).
Results: Patients had a mean age of 41±14 years, 54% were female and 25% had been previously submitted to surgery. Stricturing disease was seen in 20% of cases and penetrating disease in 16% of cases. Left-sided colonic lesions and ileal strictures were observed at colonoscopy in 13% and 9% of patients, respectively. In our sample, 28% of patients had negative patency of the small bowel (patency capsule retention). In multivariate analysis, independent factors that were associated with negative patency of the small bowel in Crohn's disease patients were stricturing (OR 10.16, p < 0.001) and penetrating phenotypes (OR 11.73, p = 0.001), left-sided colonic lesions (OR 3.77, p = 0.038), ileal stricture (OR 9.76, p = 0.003); previous intestinal surgery was found to be protective (OR 0.16, p = 0.006).
Conclusions: Stricturing or penetrating disease, ileal strictures, no previous surgery and left-sided colonic lesions were the factors associated with negative small bowel patency in Crohn's disease patients.