The goal of the present study is to investigate the clinical outcomes of patients with gastrointestinal bleeding originating from the small intestine following diagnostic investigation with single balloon enteroscopy. We hypothesize that single balloon enteroscopy can arrive at a diagnosis and provide therapeutics in a majority of patients with gastrointestinal bleeding originating in the small intestine.

The small intestine has been, until recent years, a black box to gastroenterologists because it is difficult to see and reach. Radiological imaging provides little details of small intestinal mucosa. Capsule endoscopy, introduced in 2001, enables gastroenterologists to visualize the entire small intestine from within for the first time, but it is only a diagnostic tool. Single-balloon enteroscopy (SBE) is a new enteroscopy methods that use an overtube with one balloon or a spiral to help pleat bowel onto the endoscope and allow examination of the distal small bowel. This methods allow for biopsy, hemostasis, and other therapeutic interventions to be performed in the small bowel. Early reports have been promising; with 50-70% diagnostic yield for small bowel pathology reported in the literature. However, despite these promising results the impact SBE findings on patient outcomes is not clear.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients with Obscure Gastrointestinal Bleeding undergoing SBE at Barnes Jewish Hospital

Exclusion Criteria:

• Less than 3 months of follow up after SBE
• The endoscope could not be advanced into the duodenum will be excluded.

All patients who underwent SBE at Washington University Medical Center/ Barnes Jewish Hospital prior to 1/1/2011 were eligible for inclusion. There was no control group as this was a retrospective cohort study.