title: Bowel preparations as quality indicators for colonoscopy.
abstract: Colonoscopy is the principal investigative procedure for colorectal neoplasms because it can detect and remove most precancerous lesions. The effectiveness of colonoscopy depends on the quality of the examination. Bowel preparation is an essential part of high-quality colonoscopies because only an optimal colonic cleansing allows the colonoscopist to clearly view the entire colonic mucosa and to identify any polyps or other lesions. Suboptimal bowel preparation not only prolongs the overall procedure time, decreases the cecal intubation rate, and increases the costs associated with colonoscopy but also increases the risk of missing polyps or adenomas during the colonoscopy. Therefore, a repeat examination or a shorter colonoscopy follow-up interval may be suitable strategies for a patient with suboptimal bowel preparation.
authors.affiliation: Jae Young Jang, Hoon Jai Chun, Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, South Korea.
authors.forename: Jae Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.affiliation: Jae Young Jang, Hoon Jai Chun, Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, South Korea.
authors.forename: Hoon Jai
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Chun
mesh_terms: D000236:Adenoma / Q000175:diagnosis; D002400:Cathartics; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis; D003111:Colonic Polyps / Q000175:diagnosis; D003113:Colonoscopy / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D002400:Cathartics
keywords: Bower preparation; Colonoscopy; Colorectal neoplasm; Quality