How many of you have had pill endoscopy done after obstructions?

A little history: I've had far too many obstructions, most of them hit hard and come out of nowhere. My crohn's is currently not active. I had surgery in July and the surgeon thought my intestines "looked good" and didn't do a resection, just cleared adhesions outside the intestines which he thought was the reason for obstructions.

I saw my GI today and he wants to be a little more aggressive since I've had 4 obstructions since surgery. He's going to review my CTs with both the radiologist and with a surgeon (a new one, not the one who did my other surgeries) then decide what our next step will be. If the CTs show that the obstructions are where my prior resections have been done, he will do a colonoscopy to look for internal scar tissue. If the colonoscopy shows scarring, I'd schedule surgery. If the CTs aren't clear as to where exactly the problem is, he wants to do a pill endoscopy, knowing that it will get stuck and therefore show where the narrowing/scar tissue is. Either way it looks like another surgery is in the near future.

My GI said he's had other patients who have had scarring inside the intestines from prior surgeries and had a pill endoscopy done then had surgery, but I'm wondering how common it is. Are there additional risks if you're not prepped for surgery and have it because you have a pill stuck in you?? I'd assume the risk for infection would be higher, but is there any other risk? Would that affect how much of the intestines has to be removed or your recovery time?

Thanks for taking time to read, and I appreciate any info!

Given that they're planning on surgery to take out whatever area is causing the problems, it's a waste of time to do the APC. He's aware of it, and knows it's risky, but given that I've had so many obstructions, the point is just to figure out what area is causing the obstructions and get it out. He's not using the pill cam to look for disease, but for a narrowed/scarred area that needs surgical removal.

I have had this suggested to me in the past (by different GIs), but have never gotten to the point that I was willing to do it. Keep in mind also that he told me "this is a risky move" at the beginning of the appointment.

It might be that he's able to do a colonoscopy if it looks like the obstructions are happening at the surgical site, and I'm hoping that's the route we can take, but if the CTs show that the obstructions are happening earlier in the intestines, I'm willing to take the risk. Right now I'm obstructing randomly even while staying on a low residue diet. The anxiety it's causing is overwhelming. I never know whether or not today is a day I'll end up in severe pain and in the ER, and I'm so over it. If it means having emergency surgery cuz I have a pill cam stuck, that's what it takes. Right now I'm at risk of having emergency surgery every time I obstruct.

I've never had an obstruction but I did to  the camera pill about a year ago due to extreme joint pain but nothing showing in my colonoscopy.  My Dr. warned me that it may get stuck but then went on to tell me that there are different way to get it out, not just cutting it out with surgery, but apparenlty, atleast at Georgetown, they can go down your throat and grab it.  SO idk if getting it stuck is all that big of a deal as long as you know its stuck and don't leave it for months...

Someone else in this forum several years back had had a PCE stay in their body for some 4 months or so w/no problems. Most likely that is NOT the norm tho.

Doesn't that just boggle your minds? I must have read of 5-6 patients now who've had the PCE get stuck and remain in the intestines for as much at 4-5 months as I remember them W/O ANY PROBLEMS!!! That's what boggles my mind. We know the size of that pill and it can hang around in there and not cause problems and yet the chyme moving thru backs up and can't pass thru???? Chyme is just slime for crying out loud! At least its just slime by the time it hits the TI and ICV area and passes into the cecum and colon. Our bodies are wonderous things.

Just waiting for the "fake" pill to come in, then I'll swallow it and follow up 30 hours later to see if it goes through.  We'll see...

OMG, tinxabella, how did you figure out what was making the store alarm go off and how do you explain that to the staff in the store?

This thread is interesting to me because my gi suggested this test since he was unable to get the scope to the terminal ileum as my left colon has twists and turns that took up the length of the scope. Strange, you'd think they'd have scope extensions, surely I am not the only person in the world that has this problem. Anyway, with these twist and turns I wonder about the pill camera but the main reason I don't want it is because I don't want *another* negative test. I've had enough. Medication (pentasa) worked great on my gut symptoms.

If I don't have crohns then they should be prescribing pentasa for people with other gut issues because it worked for me. I was told it was not a dangerous medication so they took a chance to see what would happen.