A Retrospective Study of Sigmoidoscopic Examination with Rigid Sigmoidoscope in a Medical School Sigmoidoscopy Center

Authors

  • Tahir Saleem Khan SMHS Hospital, Kashmir
  • A. Moiz Hafiz SMHS Hospital, Kashmir
  • Beenish Nazir SMHS Hospital, Kashmir
  • Nusrat Shaheen SKIMS Medical College, Kashmir
  • Mir Yasir SMHS Hospital, Kashmir
  • Hilal A Khan District Hospital Pulwama, Kashmir

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5915/40-2-4449

Keywords:

Rigid sigmoidoscopy, colonoscopy, rectosigmoid cancer, hemorrhoids

Abstract

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5915/40-2-4449

Rigid sigmoidoscopy is a common outpatient procedure to diagnose many rectosigmoid pathologies. As better investigative tools replace it, we decided to consider its validity at our outpatient settings. A retrospective study of the data at our sigmoidoscopy center demonstrated its efficacy as an inexpensive and effective method to screen and diagnose numerous pathologies in a setup such as ours.

Objectives:

  1. To determine the diagnostic yield of rigid sigmoidoscopy as an investigative tool with special emphasis on neoplastic lesions.
  2. To determine yearly trends in various pathologies.

Design: Retrospective study of data from the records of a sigmoidoscopy center at SMHS Hospital, Kashmir, India, from April 2002 to April 2006.

Main outcome measures: Number of sigmoidoscopy procedures performed, various pathologies picked up, sex distribution of pathologies, emphasis on rectosigmoid carcinoma cases and hemorrhoids.

Results: During the study period, 6125 examinations were done on 5244 patients. A total of 3522 abnormalities were picked up, giving a diagnostic yield of 67.2%. The most common lesion found was hemorrhoids (2418 cases, 46.1%). Other pathologies included neoplasms (660 cases, 12.6%), anal fissures (227 cases, 4.3%), fistula in ano (91 cases, 1.7%), and others (126 cases, 2.4%). Certain temporal
trends in various pathologies also were observed.

Conclusions: Rigid sigmoidoscopy is a feasible diagnostic tool for diagnosing various rectosigmoid pathologies. The incidence of rectosigmoid carcinoma is increasing.

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Published

2008-05-01

Issue

Vol. 40 No. 2 (2008)

Section

Original Articles

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