Abstract:Objective:To evaluate the effect and significance of the smart capsule monitoring system in measuring the pressure of colon and the transmission function of colon in patients with slow transit constipation.
Methods :The smart capsule monitoring system, which was manufactured by ourselves, was taken by 30 healthy volunteers and 30 patients with slow transit constipation. In all the cases, the smart capsule was taken orally at 9:00, and something was eaten at 12:00 and 18:00 in order to stimulate gastrocolic reflex. From 9 o′clock, ultrasound was used to locate the position of the smart capsule every 7 hours until the capsule was eliminated from the body moved by stool. The main parameters of observation were the time of the capsule remaining in the body, time of the capsule passing through the colon, total high amplitude propagated contractions (HAPCs), cluster HAPCs , average contraction amplitude and physiological response rate.
Results:All the cases that took the oral smart capsules eliminated the capsules in stool naturely, and without any discomfort. The silicon envelopes of the capsules were not broken. In constipation group, the time for the capsule remaining in the body and passing through the colon was longer than those in the healthy volunteer group ［(110.2±13.0)h vs. (29.7±6.5)h, (86.4±15.0)h vs. (14.8±4.6)h, the P value was 0.000 and 0.000 , respectively］. The total number of HAPCs and constitutional waves were both less than those in the healthy volunteer group ［(12.4±3.4) vs. (18.5±3.7), (4.5±2.8) vs. (12.3±2.1), the P value was 0.012 and 0.004, respectively］; The average contraction amplitude and physiological response rate were both lower than those in the healthy group ［(8.7±0.5) kPa vs. (9.5±0.7) kPa, (42.10% vs. 63.60%), the P value was 0.028 and 0.012, respectively］.
Conclusions:The smart capsule monitoring system is a non-traumatic, safe, convenient, and physiological method. It not only can measure the dynamics of the total colonic tract and its transmission time, but also can provide strong evidence to assess the cause of constipation and its severity.