Abstract:Objective To investigate the effects of different types and administration times of defoaming agents on the gastric vision clarity before magnetically controlled capsule endoscopy (MCE) in children. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on children who underwent MCE in Shanghai Children""s Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University from January 2017 to March 2023.Children were divided into three groups based on type of defoaming agents: the simethicone emulsion group (10 mL simethicone emulsion), the dimethicone powder group (5 g dimethicone powder dissolved in 30 mL warm water), and the dimethicone emulsion group (4 mL dimethicone emulsion dissolved in 10 mL water). Each group was further divided into 3 subgroups based on the time of administration before the examination: 30 minutes, 45 minutes, and 60 minutes, resulting in a total of 9 subgroups. The primary outcome measure was the gastric bubble score. Secondary outcomes included gastric cleanliness score, examination time, gastric transit time (GTT), diagnostic efficacy, and safety assessment. Results A total of 180 children (20 per group) were included in the study. The gastric bubble score (0.89 ± 0.35) and gastric cleanliness score (0.99 ± 0.52) in the 45‑minutes subgroup of the dimethicone powder group were significantly lower than those in other groups, indicating better view clarity, with significant differences (P<0.05). There were no significant differences in examination time, GTT, or the positive detection rate of gastric diseases among the groups (P>0.05). Conclusion Administration of defoaming agents before MCE can significantly reduce gastric bubbles and improve the view clarity of the gastric mucosa. The optimal regimen for children is taking 5 g dimethicone powder dissolved in 30 mL warm water 45 minutes before the examination.