Diagnostic Yield of Colonoscopy in Patients Presenting with Per Rectum Bleeding at a Tertiary Care Centre

Abstract

Background & Objective: Per rectal (PR) bleeding is a common reason for hospitalization and is defined as bleeding thatemanates from a source distal to the ligament of Treitz. Although bleeding ceases spontaneously in 80% cases, 25% risk of re-bleed persists along with a difficulty of identifying the bleeding source. The purpose of this paper was to investigate the diagnostic yield of colonoscopy and assess the detection rate of different lesions in patients with PR bleeding as seen in our hospital. Methods: Fifty adult patients with PR bleed, irrespective of their gender were selected from general medical OPD and general medical wards. All patients were subjected to fibre-optic colonoscopy after necessary preparation and findings were recorded. Biopsies taken from suspected lesions were clinically indicated. Results: Study population included 50 patients, 28 males (56%) and 22 females (44%) with a mean age of 47.16±18.08 years. Findings at colonoscopy were; hemorrhoids (48%), polyp (6%), growth (6%), diverticular disease (6%), ulceration (4%), fissure (2%), fistula (2%), inflammatory bowel disease i.e., IBD (2%) and telangiectasia (2%). Normal findings were reported in 22% cases. Conclusion: Colonoscopy has very high diagnostic yield and would be recommended in the workup of patients presenting with bleeding per rectum.