Single Balloon Enteroscopy: Is It Feasible?

Endoscopic surgery for the small intestine has attracted much attention in gastroenterology. We developed a novel type of enteroscopic technique, single balloon enteroscopy (SBE), for the examination of the small intestine. The SBE system consists of a dedicated endoscope, a sliding tube with a balloon, and an air controller to inflate or deflate the balloon of the overtube. During insertion of the sliding tube, the hook shape of the scope tip, which has an up/down angle instead of having the inflated balloon on the scope tip as in traditional double balloon enteroscopy (DBE), can hold the small intestine in the desired position. Otherwise, the insertion technique for SBE is the same as for DBE. Herein we present the technique and outcomes of SBE.

Keywords: single balloon, enteroscopy, obscure gastrointestinal bleeding, Crohn’s disease, intestinal stricture, balloon dilatation