Nationwide assessment of the safety of colonoscopy in the UK

This month's issue of Gut reports on a nationwide assessment of the quality and safety of colonoscopy in the UK.

Dr Daniel Gavin Cranfield from the United Kingdom performed a comprehensive audit of all colonoscopy undertaken in the UK over a 2-week period.

The researchers surveyed all adult colonoscopies that took place in participating National Health Service hospitals in 2011.

The team collected the results of the data on 20,085 colonoscopies, and 2681 colonoscopists from 302 units.

A validation exercise indicated that data were collected on over 94% of all procedures performed nationally.

The unadjusted cecal intubation rate was 92%.

The team of doctors noted that when adjusted for impassable strictures, and poor bowel preparation the CIR was 96%.

The polyp detection rate was 32%.

90% of procedures achieved acceptable levels of patient comfort

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The polyp detection rate for larger polyps was 12%.

The researchers retrieved 92% of resected polyps.

The team found that 90% of procedures achieved acceptable levels of patient comfort.

The doctors undertook a study, and reported a total of 8 perforations, and 52 significant hemorrhages.

The researchers observed that 8 patients underwent surgery as a consequence of a complication.

Dr Cranfield's team concludes, "This is the first national audit of colonoscopy that has successfully captured the majority of adult colonoscopies performed across an entire nation during a defined time period."

"The data confirm that there has been a significant improvement in the performance of colonoscopy in the UK since the last study reported seven years ago, and that performance is above the required national standards."