Colonoscopy complications: experience with 8968 consecutive patients in a single institution

to evaluate the incidence, epidemiological characteristics, diagnosis and evolution of patients who returned to the emergency care units of the Albert Einstein Hospital in São Paulo/SP with signs and symptoms suggestive of colonoscopy complications up to 30 days after the procedure.

we conducted a retrospective, uni-institutional study of patients submitted to colonoscopy in 2014 who returned to the Emergency department (ED) within 30 days after the procedure.

8968 patients underwent colonoscopies, 95 (1.06%) of whom had complaints related to possible complications. Most of the procedures were elective ones. Minor complications (nonspecific abdominal pain/distension) were frequent (0.49%) and most of the patients were discharged after consultation at the ED. Severe complications were less frequent: perforation (0.033%), lower gastrointestinal bleeding (0.044%), and intestinal obstruction (0.044%). ED consultations in less than 24 hours after the procedure was associated with a higher index of normal colonoscopies (p=0.006), more diagnosis of fever (p=0.0003) and dyspeptic syndrome (p=0.043), and less diagnosis of colitis/ileitis (p=0.015). The observation of fever in patients treated at the ED was associated with the diagnosis of polyps at colonoscopy (p=0.030).

the data corroborate the safety of the colonoscopy exam and points to a reduction in major complications rates.