Capsule Versus Conventional Colonoscopy in Patient Following Colorectal Surgery

Standard care after colorectal surgery is colon surveillance by standard colonoscopy with its benefits (gold standard examination, resection of lesions) and disadvantages (acceptability, general anesthesia, availability of qualified personnel, risk of perforation and associated gastrointestinal bleeding). Use of a video-capsule (VCC) is a new, non-invasive technique, that allows to visualize the colon as a whole. This technique has the advantage of not requiring general anesthesia or air insufflation. The examination is performed as an outpatient procedure and therefore does not require hospitalization. In previous studies, PillCam COLON 2 showed a good sensitivity and specificity in detecting colorectal lesions. However, its use requires an excellent bowel preparation. To date, no study has been conducted using the VCC in monitoring patients with prior colorectal surgery, especially on the passage of the VCC through surgical anastomosis. No information on VCC capabilities to view and recognize surgical anastomoses and VCC transit time in surgically modified colon is available. The possibility to precisely locate a colorectal lesion prior to surgery, using the VCC, also remains to be studied. The study requires a 2-month patient participation. The planned total study duration is 2 years.