Colonoscopy in clinical practice.

Colonoscopy is a relatively new and important diagnostic modality for evaluation colonic disease. In order to assess its value in the community hospital, all colonoscopies done by me (250 examinations in two hospitals) were reviewed. Colonoscopy was sometimes easy and sometimes long and tedious. It was difficult to reach the cecum consistently, but success improved with experience. Many neoplasma not seen on barium enema were found, including three carcinomas. Twenty-seven polyps were removed with the aid of the colonoscopic snare. No complications occurred. Colonoscopy should probably be restricted to those physicians who have a large enough case load and who can spend enough time learning the procedure to develop expertise.