ACG and ASGE Issue New Comprehensive Quality Indicators for Capsule Endoscopy and Deep Enteroscopy

The American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) and the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) are the first to issue comprehensive quality indicators for capsule endoscopy (CE) and deep enteroscopy (DE), endoscopic procedures that have an important positive impact on the diagnosis and management of suspected small-bowel diseases. While guidelines and detailed recommendations exist for the use of CE/DE, with this paper published jointly in The American Journal of Gastroenterology and Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, the authors are the first to use a methodologically rigorous process to develop valid quality indicators for both CE and DE applicable to preprocedure, intraprocedure, and postprocedure periods.

Small-bowel CE and DE are both relatively new procedures that enable evaluation of the entire small bowel. CE has revolutionized small-bowel assessment, particularly for suspected small-bowel bleeding. Currently, CE is a purely diagnostic test. DE is more invasive and complements CE with important therapeutic capabilities.

An expert panel of 7 gastroenterologists with diverse practice experience identified quality indicators: Jonathan A. Leighton, MD, FACG, Andrew S. Brock, MD, Carol E. Semrad, MD, FACG, David J. Hass, MD, FACG, Nalini M. Guda, MD, FACG, FASGE, Jodie A. Barkin, MD and Glenn M. Eisen, MD, MPH, FASGE.

The goal of the task force was to improve the quality performance of these small-bowel diagnostic techniques by compiling comprehensive recommendations of quality indicators for CE and DE procedures. The authors write that, “incorporating the measures into clinical practice will improve standardization of these procedures, further increasing quality.”

The proposed quality indicators for CE and DE were selected because the task force felt that these components were most important to high-quality examinations. The task force believes that these quality indicators will lead to improved documentation of the procedure and communication of findings and will provide critical information to enhance clinical management and possibly improve outcomes. The group also identified knowledge gaps and posed specific research questions to help guide future studies that may continue improving the quality of CE and DE procedures.

Read the Quality Indicators: https://journals.lww.com/ajg/pages/articleviewer.aspx?year=9900&issue=00000&article=00523&type=Fulltext AND https://www.giejournal.org/article/S0016-5107(22)01948-4/fulltext