1982 Volume 24 Issue 3 Pages 473-481
We have performed colonoscopic examination after glycerin enema or without any premedication within a week from the onset of symptoms in the cases complaining of melena and/or acute diarrhea. We defined this as "early colonoscopy" and investigated about the usefulness of this for the bleeding of the lower gastrointestinal tract. 68 patients underwent early colonoscopy. In 74% of of them, the causes were confirmed. Many of the causes confirmed were acute inflammatory colonic diseases, for example, ischemic colitis or drug induced colitis. Most of the lesions were seen at the rectum or sigmoid colon. But, in the acute inflammatory colonic diseases, a part of lesions were seen at the right side colon. In the majority of cases in early colonoscopy, the scope was introduced into the rectum and sigmoid colon, though it might be possibble to introduce it into the cecum. As a week passed from the onset, acute inflammatory colonic diseases showed the tendency to cure. No complication occurred. From the results desults described above, we concluded that early colonoscopy was safe and useful for the bleeding of lower gastrointestinal tract, especially for acute inflammatory colonic diseases.
