Cecal intubation rate during colonoscopy at a tertiary hospital in South-West Nigeria: How frequent and what affects completion rate?

BACKGROUND: Colonoscopy is useful in the diagnosis, treatment of colorectal diseases, and for colorectal cancer screening program. Complete colonoscopy is therefore crucial for the success of any screening program. One important measure of the quality of colonoscopy is the cecal intubation rate (CIR).

AIM: This was to assess the CIR at our endoscopy unit and evaluate the factors responsible for uncompleted cases.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: This was a prospective study at the endoscopy unit of the University College Hospital, Ibadan. All consenting patients referred for colonoscopy were recruited into the study. Colonoscopy was performed per protocol, and cecal intubation was considered successful when the medial wall of the cecum was intubated.

RESULTS: Total of 305 colonoscopies were performed comprising 168 (55.1%) males and 137 (44.9%) females. Mean age was 57.5 ± 14.0 years (range 15-90 years). The crude CIR was 89.2%, whereas the adjusted CIR was 95.1%. Completion rate was higher in males, in patients who were younger than 58 years and in patients with adequate bowel preparation.

CONCLUSION: CIR in our practice is high and comparable to the recommended rates. Female gender, age older than 58 years, and inadequate bowel preparation had a crude association with lower CIR, but this was not statistically significant.