Colitis, cancer, and colonoscopy

Colonoscopy has added a new dimension to the diagnosis of colonic diseases. In the field of inflammatory bowel disease, colonscopy is indicated only when certain specific problems arise. Patients with acute colitis and those who are too sick to withstand cleansing enemas should not undergo colonoscopy. A major use of the colonoscope is in the detection of carcinoma in the colitic colon either in the form of colonic strictures or filling defects discovered by barium enema x-ray, or in the long-term surveillance of patients with universal ulcerative colitis. Criteria are listed to assist in the colonoscopic differential diagnosis between ulcerative and granulomatous colitis. By using different criteria than the radiographer, and with the help of biopsy specimens, a high degree of accuracy in proper diagnosis can be achieved.