The extent of successful colonscopy: its implication for the radiologist.

Records of 230 colonoscopies were reviewed to determine the success in viewing the entire colon and the extent of the colon viewed when colonoscopy was incomplete. It was found that colonoscopy was complete to the cecum or ileum in 57% of studies, and that an average 63.8% of the colon was viewed during incomplete studies. Overall, 84.4% of the combined length of all colons examined was successfully viewed. The significant numbers of incomplete colonoscopies suggest that colonoscopy and the barium enema examination must remain complementary for maximum detection of colon lesions.