Abstract:Objective To explore the feasibility and safety of MCCE in gastrointestinal examination of elderly patients with malignant tumors.Methods Clinical data of 127 patients who underwent MCCE examination from April 2019 to September 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. According to age, the patients were divided into the elderly group (age ≥ 65 year-old, n = 88) and the middle-aged group (40 ≤ age < 65 year-old, n = 39), and the clinical data of patients with malignant tumors were screened from the two groups for analysis and comparison.Results 131 patients received MCCE examination, and 4 elderly patients were excluded from this study due to swallowing failure, so 88 elderly patients were actually included in the study. In the elderly group, 45.4% had serious cardiovascular diseases (40/88), 27.3% had malignant tumors (24/88), 8.0% had serious respiratory diseases (7/88), 6.8% had anesthesia problems (6/88), and 9.1% had neurological diseases (8/88). Among the 24 elderly patients with malignant tumors, 25.0% had severe cardiovascular disease, 25.0% had poor general status, 20.8% had brain metastases, and 12.5% had severe respiratory dysfunction. The positive diagnosis rate of gastric P2 lesions in the elderly group (52/88, 59.1%) was significantly higher than that in the middle-aged group (13/39, 33.3%) (P = 0.013). There was significant difference in positive rate of ulcer diagnosis between the two groups (29.5% and 10.2%) (P = 0.032). In patients with malignant tumors, the positive rate of ulcer diagnosis between the two groups (45.8% and 11.1%) was statistically significant (P = 0.038). The cleanliness and visualization scores of proximal stomach in the middle-aged group were higher than those in the elderly group, and the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05).Conclusion MCCE is generally effective and safe in elderly patients, especially those with malignant tumors, without missing any significant gastric lesions.