Glutaraldehyde-induced colitis

To describe the etiology and clinical course of acute colitis occurring after flexible endoscopy.

Chart review.

A university teaching hospital.

Eight patients who sought assessment of potential colonic disease.

Colonoscopy in 5 patients and flexible sigmoidoscopy in 3 patients. The indication for endoscopy was screening in 5 patients, cancer surveillance in 2 patients and preoperative evaluation of colon carcinoma in 1 patient.

The relation of presenting symptoms to glutaraldehyde exposure, the response to therapy and the need for further therapy.

All patients had abdominal pain, mucus diarrhea and rectal bleeding within 48 hours after endoscopy. Most patients reported that the symptoms started within 12 hours of the procedure. All patients were confirmed by sigmoidoscopy to have colitis within 72 hours of the first endoscopic procedure. One patient required hospitalization. In the first 7 patients several stool cultures were negative for Clostridium difficile using the cytotoxin assay by the cell culture method. Four patients had negative cultures for Yersinia, Salmonella and Shigella spp. Three patients were treated with metronidazole initially. Two patients underwent endoscopic biopsy and examination of the biopsy specimen showed fibrinoleukocytic exudate and ischemic type injury. One patient underwent the scheduled sigmoid resection within 48 hours of endoscopy for a Dukes' stage B adenocarcinoma. Concomitant acute ischemic colitis limited to the mucosa and submucosa was noted in the resected specimen. Symptoms resolved in all patients and follow-up endoscopy revealed normal mucosa.

The entity of glutaraldehyde-induced colitis should be recognized and special attention should be given during instrument cleansing to minimize the risk of its development.