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The yield of colonoscopy in patients attending a tertiary hospital in Cape Town, South Africa

Background: Colonoscopy is widely used for diagnosis, therapeutic intervention of conditions of the lower gastrointestinal tract and colorectal cancer screening. Given its widespread use and complications, colonoscopy should be performed for appropriate indications. The aim of this study was to dete...

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Main Author: Elhenghari, Emad
Other Authors: Setshedi, Mashiko
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Medicine 2022
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access_status_str Open Access
author Elhenghari, Emad
author2 Setshedi, Mashiko
author_browse Elhenghari, Emad
Setshedi, Mashiko
author_facet Setshedi, Mashiko
Elhenghari, Emad
author_sort Elhenghari, Emad
collection Thesis
description Background: Colonoscopy is widely used for diagnosis, therapeutic intervention of conditions of the lower gastrointestinal tract and colorectal cancer screening. Given its widespread use and complications, colonoscopy should be performed for appropriate indications. The aim of this study was to determine the yield and appropriateness of colonoscopy at a tertiary hospital. Methods: Demographic, clinical and endoscopic data was retrieved from a prospective endoscopy database from 01 Jan 2014 to 31 December 2019. The variables collected were patient details (age, sex), clinical indication, symptoms, urgency of colonoscopy, sedation used, quality of bowel preparation, and findings. Results: The total number of patients was 4033 with median age of 56 (IQR 18-85), of whom 59.6% were female. Colonoscopy was performed for appropriate indications in 98% of cases (according to EPAGE II criteria). Older patients were more likely to be investigated for anaemia (OR=0.55, CI 0.43-0.70, p=0.000), and surveillance postpolypectomy (OR=0.57, CI 0.37-0.85, p=0.005), while patients under 50 had a colonoscopy for an IBD flare (OR=1.98, CI 1.49-2.6, p=0.000), or surveillance for HNPCC (OR=3.0, CI 2.1-4.3, p=0.000). Rectal bleeding was the commonest symptom (16.5%). Patients younger than 50 were more likely to present with abdominal pain (OR=1.3, CI 1.07-1.6, p=0.006), and diarrhoea (OR=1.8, CI 1.5-2.3, p=0.000), whilst those older than 50 were more likely to present with alteration of bowel habit (OR=0.63, CI 0.43-0.9, p=0.012), and loss of weight (OR=0.45, CI 0.33-0.60, p=0.000). Polyps were the commonest finding (15.4%); the prevalence of colorectal cancer and diverticular disease was 3.6% and 6.5% respectively. Patients younger than 50 were more likely to have inflammation (OR=2.6, CI 2.18-3.15, p=0.000), whilst those older than 50 were more likely to have diverticulae (OR=0.08, CI 0.05-0.14, p=0.000), polyps (OR=0.43, CI 0.35- 0.53, p=0.000) or a tumour (OR=0.47, CI 0.29-0.72, p=0.000). Although 69% of the bowel preparation was reported as good or adequate, there was no difference in the detection of lesions when compared to poor bowel preparation. The adjusted caecal intubation rate was 95.1%. Conclusion: Colonoscopy was performed in a relatively young cohort, predominantly for symptoms not screening. The study provides some epidemiologic data on common lower gastrointestinal conditions in a referral center, but also highlights some inefficiencies in the system. Furthermore, this study serves as an audit on the clinical service, a baseline from which improvements can be made.
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license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2022
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spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/35722 The yield of colonoscopy in patients attending a tertiary hospital in Cape Town, South Africa Elhenghari, Emad Setshedi, Mashiko Thomson, Sandie Medicine Background: Colonoscopy is widely used for diagnosis, therapeutic intervention of conditions of the lower gastrointestinal tract and colorectal cancer screening. Given its widespread use and complications, colonoscopy should be performed for appropriate indications. The aim of this study was to determine the yield and appropriateness of colonoscopy at a tertiary hospital. Methods: Demographic, clinical and endoscopic data was retrieved from a prospective endoscopy database from 01 Jan 2014 to 31 December 2019. The variables collected were patient details (age, sex), clinical indication, symptoms, urgency of colonoscopy, sedation used, quality of bowel preparation, and findings. Results: The total number of patients was 4033 with median age of 56 (IQR 18-85), of whom 59.6% were female. Colonoscopy was performed for appropriate indications in 98% of cases (according to EPAGE II criteria). Older patients were more likely to be investigated for anaemia (OR=0.55, CI 0.43-0.70, p=0.000), and surveillance postpolypectomy (OR=0.57, CI 0.37-0.85, p=0.005), while patients under 50 had a colonoscopy for an IBD flare (OR=1.98, CI 1.49-2.6, p=0.000), or surveillance for HNPCC (OR=3.0, CI 2.1-4.3, p=0.000). Rectal bleeding was the commonest symptom (16.5%). Patients younger than 50 were more likely to present with abdominal pain (OR=1.3, CI 1.07-1.6, p=0.006), and diarrhoea (OR=1.8, CI 1.5-2.3, p=0.000), whilst those older than 50 were more likely to present with alteration of bowel habit (OR=0.63, CI 0.43-0.9, p=0.012), and loss of weight (OR=0.45, CI 0.33-0.60, p=0.000). Polyps were the commonest finding (15.4%); the prevalence of colorectal cancer and diverticular disease was 3.6% and 6.5% respectively. Patients younger than 50 were more likely to have inflammation (OR=2.6, CI 2.18-3.15, p=0.000), whilst those older than 50 were more likely to have diverticulae (OR=0.08, CI 0.05-0.14, p=0.000), polyps (OR=0.43, CI 0.35- 0.53, p=0.000) or a tumour (OR=0.47, CI 0.29-0.72, p=0.000). Although 69% of the bowel preparation was reported as good or adequate, there was no difference in the detection of lesions when compared to poor bowel preparation. The adjusted caecal intubation rate was 95.1%. Conclusion: Colonoscopy was performed in a relatively young cohort, predominantly for symptoms not screening. The study provides some epidemiologic data on common lower gastrointestinal conditions in a referral center, but also highlights some inefficiencies in the system. Furthermore, this study serves as an audit on the clinical service, a baseline from which improvements can be made. 2022-02-18T06:43:35Z 2022-02-18T06:43:35Z 2021 2022-02-10T14:34:14Z Master Thesis Masters MSc http://hdl.handle.net/11427/35722 eng application/pdf Department of Medicine Faculty of Health Sciences
spellingShingle Medicine
Elhenghari, Emad
The yield of colonoscopy in patients attending a tertiary hospital in Cape Town, South Africa
thesis_degree_str Master's
title The yield of colonoscopy in patients attending a tertiary hospital in Cape Town, South Africa
title_full The yield of colonoscopy in patients attending a tertiary hospital in Cape Town, South Africa
title_fullStr The yield of colonoscopy in patients attending a tertiary hospital in Cape Town, South Africa
title_full_unstemmed The yield of colonoscopy in patients attending a tertiary hospital in Cape Town, South Africa
title_short The yield of colonoscopy in patients attending a tertiary hospital in Cape Town, South Africa
title_sort yield of colonoscopy in patients attending a tertiary hospital in cape town south africa
topic Medicine
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/35722
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AT elhenghariemad yieldofcolonoscopyinpatientsattendingatertiaryhospitalincapetownsouthafrica