Complications of colonoscopy in a large public county hospital in Greece. A 10-year study

Background and study aims. Information about the complications of colonoscopy in Southern Europe is limited, particularly in Greece where it is non-existent. Our study sought to determine the complications of colonoscopy in it large public county hospital in Greece over a 10-year period. Patients and methods. All colononoscopy procedures from 1996 to 2006 were entered into a database. Data were analysed by both univariate and multivariate methods. Results. Nine thousand six hundred forty-eight colonoscopies were entered into it database. The procedures were diagnostic in 79% and therapeutic in 21 %. Overall bleeding complications Occurred in 83 out of the 9648 patients (0.8%: 95% confidence interval [0.7%, 0.9%]). Perforation occurred in four female patients (0.04%: 95% confidence interval [0.01%, 0.07%]) in the sigmoid colon. Multivariate stepwise logistic regression analysis in the therapeutic colonoscopies revealed that presence of significant polyps (odds ratio 4.7, confidence interval [2.9-7.6]), the male sex (odds ratio 2, 95% confidence interval [1.2-3.3]) and the time period of the procedure (the first 5 years) (odds ratio 1.7, 95% confidence interval [1.01-3]), are significant predictors of a post-colonoscopy bleeding episode. Conclusion. This historical cohort study, the first in Greece on this subject, shows that colonoscopy is a rather safe procedure and that the rate of complications in this Study was low. (C) 2008 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.