Double-Balloon Enteroscopy in Elderly Patients: Is It Safe and Useful?

Authors :: Dae Han Choi
Seong Ran Jeon
Jin-Oh Kim
Hyun Gun Kim
Tae Hee Lee
Woong Cheul Lee
Byung Soo Kang
Jun-Hyung Cho
Yunho Jung
Wan Jung Kim
Bong Min Ko
Joo Young Cho
Joon Seong Lee
Moon Sung Lee
Source :: Intestinal Research, Vol 12, Iss 4, Pp 313-319 (2014)
Publication Year :: 2014
Publisher :: Korean Association for the Study of Intestinal Diseases, 2014.
Abstract: Background/AimsProviders may be hesitant to perform double-balloon enteroscopy (DBE) in the elderly because the increased number of co-morbidities in this population poses a greater risk of complications resulting from sedation. There are limited data on the use of DBE in the elderly. Here, we assessed the safety and efficacy of DBE in the elderly compared to those in younger patients.MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 158 patients who underwent 218 DBEs. Patients were divided into an elderly group (age ≥65 years; mean 71.4±5.4; n=34; 41 DBEs) and a younger group (age