Fatal dysnatraemia caused by elective colonoscopy

摘要

Recent data suggest that colonoscopy is superior to other screening procedures for the detection of colorectal cancer in people aged over 50. The American College of Gastroenterology has recently recommended that individuals over 50 at average risk of colon cancer should have elective colonoscopy every 10 years, and those at higher risk more frequently. In the United States, 239 000 inpatient colonoscopies were performed in 1995, and this figure rose by 20% to 286 000 by 1999. Yet complications of elective colonoscopy are reported to be infrequent: colon perforation or bleeding occurs in fewer than 1% of cases, and electrolyte disorders are not even mentioned.