1986 Volume 28 Issue 6 Pages 1215-1223
The importance of bloody stool as an indication of colonoscopy has long been estab-lished. Using 2, 151 new patients in the past three years (1982-1984), the importance of symptoms other than bloody stool as an indication of colonoscopy was studied. The complaints of the patients underwent colonoscopy and the colonoscopic diagnosis were paralleled. The following conclusions were obtained. (1) Patients under 40 : Only those complaining bloody stool are indicated for colono-scopy. The insertion is enough up to the splenic flexure. (2) Patients over 51: Any complaints should not be ignored as a chance for colono-scopy. Adenoma and/or early cancers are found around 20% of the examinees regardless of their complaints. (3) Those in forties accord with those over fifty. The importance of symptoms other than bloody stool was stressed for the detection of colonic adenomas and early cancers.
