Objective: To investigate the diagnostic value of capsule endoscopy (CE) examination for small intestinal diseases and compare the merits and drawbacks of different CE examination systems. Methods: Four hundred and seventeen patients undergoing CE examination for gastrointestinal symptoms in the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University from March 2010 to December 2015 were enrolled. The working time, transit times in the stomach and small bowel, examination completion rate, positive diagnostic rate, lesion detection rate and capsule retention rate were compared between domestic and foreign imported CE examination systems, and the constitutions of the diagnosed small bowel diseases in patients of different ages and undergoing examination for different reasons were also analyzed. Results: In foreign imported CE group compared with domestic CE group, the working time, and transit times in the stomach and small bowel were prolonged, and the examination completion rate was increased (88.8% vs. 84.0%) (all P<0.05), but the positive detection rates (76.6% vs. 70.5%), lesion detection rates (89.8% vs. 90.1%) and capsule retention rate (0.5% vs. 1.0%) showed no significant differences (all P>0.05). Vascular diseases were the most frequently detected by CE in patients of each age group, which in underage group ( age <18 years), young and middle-aged group ( age 18 - 59 years) and elderly group ( age ≥60 years ) were 44.5%, 22.7% and 34.3%, and in the second place were nonspecific inflammation (22.2%) in underage group, Crohn's disease (17.6%) in young and middle-aged group and tumors (22.9%) in elderly group, respectively. The detected diseases in patients for obscure gastrointestinal bleeding mainly included vascular diseases (43.0%), tumors (14.8%), non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug-associated gastrointestinal mucosal disease (6.3%), Crohn's disease (6.3%), diverticulum (7.0%), acute gastric mucosal lesion (3.1%), and nonspecific inflammation (7.0%), and in patients for unexplained abdominal pain mainly included functional gastrointestinal disorders (27.5%), Crohn's disease (19.6%), nonspecific inflammation (15.7%), intestinal tuberculosis (9.8%), tumors (9.8%), irritable bowel syndrome (7.8%) and vascular diseases (2.0%). Conclusion: CE examination has higher detection rates for small bowel diseases, with applicability to wide population groups and high safety. The domestic and foreign imported CE examination systems have similar diagnostic value.