[Errors in the diagnosis of diseases of the large intestine]

The quality of the diagnosis of colonic diseases was analyzed in 395 patients. Comparisons were made of the diagnoses on admission to and discharge from hospital: in irritated colon and its dyskinesias, ulcerous colitis and Crohn's disease, carcinoma, polyps, other forms of colitis and so forth. Errors in the basic diagnosis constituted 51.0 +/- 1.8%; including 25.4 +/- 1.6% of cases of overdiagnoses; in 25.6 +/- 1.6%, the disease was not recognized. The main colonic diseases were coupled with other intestinal diseases in 42.3 +/- 2.5%, with other diseases of the alimentary organs in 37.2 +/- 2.5% of cases. The quality of the diagnosis is affected by wrong medical thinking, insufficient application of colonoscopy as well as polymorbidity of modern patients, growing with their age. Approaches to the improvement of the quality of the diagnosis of colonic diseases are determined by the causes and mechanisms of the errors made.