Loading...
Risk for colonic perforation is an important part of the benefit-harm calculation for colonoscopy, particularly for asymptomatic people who are undergoing the procedure solely for cancer screening. In this report, Mayo Clinic researchers describe their institutional experience with colonoscopic perforation.
Between 1980 and 2006, 180 perforations occurred during 258,248 colonoscopies (incidence, 0.07%; 1 perforation per 1435 procedures). Cancer screening was the indication for colonoscopy in about half the perforation cases. Blunt injury, polypectomy, and thermal injury (e.g., from electrocautery) were the causes of perforation in 55%, 27%, and 18% of cases, respectively.
Fifteen cases were managed nonoperatively, and 165 were managed operati…