An audit of evolving colonoscopy practice in two tertiary hospitals in South-East Nigeria

Introduction: Colonoscopy is quite essential in the management of gastrointestinal pathologies. Its practice in most developing countries is suboptimal. Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the common indications and findings at colonoscopy in a patient population in South-eastern Nigeria, as well as to assess the documentation of quality indicators of colonoscopy service. Materials and Methods: The endoscopy records of patients who underwent colonoscopy at two tertiary institutions (Federal Medical Centre, Owerri and Imo State University Teaching Hospital, Orlu) from January 2014 to December 2016 were reviewed. Information on patient demographics, colonoscopy indications, colonoscopy findings, and polyp detection were sought for. Data analysis was done with SPSS version 21. Results: Two hundred and nineteen patients had colonoscopy within the period. Age range of the patients was 16 to 94 years (mean age: 55 ± 14.8 years). The most common indications for colonoscopy were bleeding per rectum 100 (45.7%) and change in bowel habit 36 (16.4%). Tumors in the colon/rectum were seen in 44 (19.9%) patients and polyp detection rate was 10.9% ( n = 24). Records were not comprehensively kept. Conclusion: The high percentage of findings of tumors in patients undergoing colonoscopy in our population suggests that this service should have an expanded coverage to enable earlier diagnosis of colorectal malignancies. A better endoscopy record and data management will also be helpful.