Endotoxaemia following colonoscopy

In 100 consecutive patients the occurrence of bacteraemia and endotoxaemia after colonoscopy was studied. The Limulus Amoebocyte Lysate Test was used to detect endotoxaemia. No bacteraemia was detected after colonoscopy. Growth of Staph, epidermidis was considered as contamination. In 9% of the patients endotoxaemia was discovered after colonoscopy. The occurrence of endotoxaemia was found to be unrelated to the duration of the procedure, the number of the biopsies taken, or the cleansing of the bowel prior to colonoscopy. In patients with liver cirrhosis endotoxaemia occurred more often than in patients without liver disease. No clinical consequences of endotoxaemia were found in patients who developed endotoxaemia after colonoscopy. We conclude that colonoscopy is followed by endotoxaemia quite frequently. The clinical implication of these conditions, especially in patients with liver cirrhosis merits further consideration.