Afternoon Colonoscopies Show Significantly Higher Failure Rates Than Morning Procedures By Bruce Sylvester Scheduling of colonoscopies in the afternoons instead of the mornings is an independent predictor of an incomplete procedure, due largely to poorer bowel preparation, according to research presented here on May 17th at Digestive Disease Week (DDW). "We found that a shift of scheduling from afternoon to morning only could result in significant avoidance of inadequate results and, therefore, repeat procedures," said lead investigator Nirav Shah, MD, clinical gastroenterologist, MetroHealth Systems, Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Shah and colleagues performed a retrospective chart review between November 2003 and October 2004 of data on timing of procedure, colonoscopic findings, and prescribed preparations. "The majority of our patients receive [polyethylene glycol] electrolyte-based bowel preparation in the evening prior to the day of the scheduled colonoscopy," the investigators noted in their poster. The researchers found that 16% of 1114 morning procedures and 22% of 1174 afternoon procedures involved inadequate bowel preparation (P = .0005). Except for poor bowel preparation precluding completion, patients in both groups had similar risk factors predictive of incomplete colonoscopy. Total incompletion rates reached 8.1% in the afternoon versus 4.4% in the morning (P = .0003). "After excluding incomplete colonoscopies due to poor bowel preparation and colonic pathology precluding completion, incompletion rate was still higher in the afternoon procedures (4.3% vs 2.8%)," the authors wrote. "We could see a significant cost savings for patients and insurers from shifting to a greater use of morning colonoscopies, and, of course, quality of life would be improved for those patients who do not have to go through the whole preparation and procedure process again," Dr. Shah said. [Presentation title: Afternoon Colonoscopies Have Higher Failure Rates Compared to Morning Colonoscopies. Abstract M1293] May 20, 2005 Thanks to docguide.com Radiological Society of North America, 10/05 Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.