The aim of this study is to compare sigmoidoscopy with full colonoscopy in these patients. In this cross-sectional study, 120 eligible patients under 50 years old with acute rectal bleeding were enrolled. Pain, the comfort of the test by physician and patient, duration of the procedure, and pathologic findings were recorded during sigmoidoscopy and proximal colonoscopy (from splenic flexure to ileocecal valve) in the same patient. The variables in the two stages were compared with each other. There were 66 women (55%) and 54 men (45%), and the mean of age was 41 ± 7.9 years. Proximal colonoscopy from splenic flexure to reach cecum was relatively easier for the physician and the patient than sigmoidoscopy (P < 0.001). Furthermore, the time spent to carry out proximal colonoscopy was less than the time taken for sigmoidoscopy (P < 0.001). Pathologic findings recorded in full colonoscopy were more than sigmoidoscopy (P < 0.001). Therefore, full colonoscopy that includes sigmoidoscopy and proximal colonoscopy is relatively easier than sigmoidoscopy for patients, and it also proves to be more advantageous than sigmoidoscopy for physicians to perform in Iranian patients because of the more tortuous and elongated sigmoid colon in these patients.
Part of the book: Gastrointestinal Stomas