JPGN reports · 5 authors, 6 centres
This summary was generated by AI from a single paper. It has not been reviewed by a clinician and is not clinical advice. Verify against the source before acting on it.
This case report describes the use of video capsule endoscopy (VCE) to investigate gastrointestinal bleeding in a 16-year-old female on ventricular assist device support. The VCE safely identified an active bleeding source in the gastric antrum, guiding successful conservative management without device-related complications.
This is a case report of a 16-year-old female with a ventricular assist device (VAD) and pacemaker who presented with hematemesis. Conventional endoscopy was deemed high-risk due to her pulmonary hypertension and need for general anesthesia. Therefore, a video capsule endoscopy (VCE) was performed after confirming patency. The VCE, which remained in the stomach throughout the recording, identified active bleeding with erosions and ulceration in the gastric antrum. The patient was managed conservatively with intravenous pantoprazole and showed clinical improvement. The procedure was completed without any reported patient or cardiac device-related complications. The case highlights VCE as a safe and diagnostically useful tool for investigating gastrointestinal bleeding in pediatric patients on VAD support, where it can avoid the risks of invasive endoscopy. Limitations include the capsule's failure to transit to the small bowel, likely due to reduced gastric motility, and the single-case nature of the report.
