Abstract

Background
/Aims: For evaluation of anemia, esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) is widely used. However, there is no sufficient information on the efficiency and role of colonoscopic evaluation for these anemia patients. We aimed to evaluate the diagnostic yield of colonoscopy in anemia patients with nonactive rectal bleeding. Methods: This was a retrospective study from January 2001 to December 2002. We reviewed 147 patients who underwent colonoscopy for anemia evaluation. Results: The mean age was 48⁑17 years (range 15∼90), and male to female ratio was 1：4.3. Ninety-four patients (63.9%) had iron deficiency anemia and 21.8% of them have less than 7 g/dL of hemoglobin. Abnormal colonoscopic findings were observed in 84 patients (57.1%) including hemorrhoid (35), polyp (31), tuberculosis (9), cancer (8), diverticulum (8), endometriosis (1), angiodysplasia (1), and ulcerative colitis (1). The presence of abnormal colonoscopic findings was more frequently observed in older population (≥55 years old, p=0.034). Intestinal tuberculosis, endometriosis, and ulcerative colitis were observed only in younger population (＜55 years old), and 2 of 8 cancer patients were 39 and 49 years old males. Conclusions: Although the diagnostic yield of colonoscopy is relatively higher in older population, colonoscopy is one of the valuable tools in anemia evaluation of both older and younger populations. (Korean J Gastrointest Endosc 2004;28:173 ⁣178)

• Keywords: IColonoscopy, Anemia, Rectal bleeding