Capsule endoscopy
Content date: 13 November 2026
A swallowed camera examines the small bowel. It can help investigate selected causes of bleeding, anemia and bowel disease, but cannot take biopsies or provide treatment.
Your next step
Obtain your unit’s instructions and tell them about previous obstruction, bowel surgery or swallowing difficulty before the appointment.
Get urgent help: After swallowing the capsule, seek urgent assessment for severe new pain, marked swelling with repeated vomiting, inability to pass gas or stool, or breathing or swallowing difficulty.
Why might it be offered?
- It can help assess the small bowel for unexplained bleeding or iron deficiency, or selected cases of Crohn’s disease, depending on previous tests and your situation.
- It does not replace every gastroscopy or colonoscopy. Another procedure may be needed to take tissue samples or provide treatment.
Before the appointment: what should I report?
- Tell the unit about previous narrowing or obstruction, Crohn’s disease, bowel surgery, swallowing problems, pregnancy or possible pregnancy, and implanted medical devices.
- Bring your medicine list. Do not stop iron, diabetes medicines or blood thinners yourself; obtain an individual written plan.
- Fasting and bowel preparation depend on the capsule system and unit. Follow your supplied instructions rather than automatically using a colonoscopy preparation.
Do I need a patency assessment?
- The team may request bowel imaging or a dissolvable test capsule to assess possible narrowing before the camera. Not everyone needs this.
- Assessment reduces but does not remove retention risk. A retained capsule may require treatment or endoscopic retrieval, and sometimes surgery.
On the day and afterwards
- Swallow the capsule as instructed and use the recorder if your system requires one. Follow the unit’s timetable for drinks, food, activity and returning equipment.
- The capsule usually passes naturally in stool. Ask how your unit confirms passage and when to contact them if you are unsure.
- Do not have an MRI until capsule passage has been confirmed according to the unit’s instructions. A particular number of days passing is not confirmation on its own.
Before leaving the unit
- Record the contact number, how to confirm passage, and when to return any recorder.
- Ask who will explain the result, when to expect it, and what happens if images are incomplete or a finding needs another test.
When to get help
After swallowing the capsule, seek urgent assessment for severe new pain, marked swelling with repeated vomiting, inability to pass gas or stool, or breathing or swallowing difficulty.
Contact the unit if capsule passage is uncertain, the recorder has a problem, or you do not know when to receive the result.