Capsule endoscopy saves teen from severe anaemia

NEW DELHI: A 14-year-old boy suffering from severe anaemia since the past two years was admitted in a private hospital in the city even after having received nearly 22 litres of transfused blood.

This perplexed the doctors of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital as they could not find the cause even after several tests including endoscopy and colonoscopy.

Both tests did not show anything. So, the doctors decided to perform an unusual test — a capsule endoscopy.

“In the test, the patient is given a capsule, the size of a vitamin capsule, with a camera in it. It passes through the entire gastrointestinal tract clicking nearly 70,000 images,” said Dr Anil Arora , chairperson , department of gastroenterology, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.

The test is not routinely done and the cost of one capsule in the market is ₹50,000. But, in this case, the test saved the boy’s life. The doctors discovered a hookworm infestation in the small intestine.

“The hookworms, which are usually yellowish, were found to be red in this case, meaning that they were actively sucking blood from the boy’s intestine. It is ironic that the test cost so much and the treatment costs just about ₹50,” said Dr Varun Gupta, one of the doctors treating the boy.

The boy was given anthelmintic tablets, a drug to kill parasitic worms, and in three months his haemoglobin increased to 11 g/dl from 5.86 g/dl.

The boy’s case study has been published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases and Therapy.