Colonoscopic And Histological Assessment Of Colonic Lesions In University Of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City

Abstract

Context: Colonoscopy has assumed a significant role in the diagnosis and treatment of colorectal lesions as it enables biopsies to be obtained for histological examination as a means of confirming diagnosis.
Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the colonoscopic and histological findings in patients referred for colonoscopy at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria.
Methods: Colonoscopy was performed on consecutive patients that were referred for colonoscopy in the endoscopy unit at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, over a period of 18months (Dec2009-May2011). The biodata and clinical information of the patients were obtained from records of the endoscopy unit and the surgical day books of the department of histopathology.
Results: A total of 37 patients were studied during the period under review. The male to female ratio was 1.3:1 with a mean age of 52±16 years. This study showed colonoscopic abnormality in 24(64.9%) patients while 13(35.1%) patients had colonoscopically normal mucosa. The most common colonoscopic abnormality was colorectal malignancy which was seen in nine(24.3%) patients. Chronic nonspecific colitis was the most common histological diagnosis and was seen in 17(45.9%) patients. The histological finding correlated with the colonoscopic findings in 16(43.2%) cases. Eight of the 13 patients (61.5%) with normal mucosal on colonoscopy had chronic nonspecific colitis on histology.
Conclusion: This study shows that sampling of macroscopically normal colonic mucosa could reveal a colorectal lesion on histology, as such a routine biopsy for histology should be encouraged in all patients referred for colonoscopic evaluation.

Keywords: Colonoscopy, histology, colorectal, Benin-city