[Colonoscopy in hemorrhagic lesions of the colon]. / La colonoscopia en las lesiones hemorrágicas del colon.

Patients with this pathology represents a difficult problem in differential diagnosis. Clinical findings and radiologic studies could help but endoscopy is now the most precise method in order to determine the site and nature of hemorrhage. We performed 504 colonoscopies in colon hemorrhage finding that our most frequent cause were polyps in both, children and adults in 199 cases (39%); diverticular disease was the second with 131 patients (26%) and third carcinoma with 52 (10%). Other causes were amebic colitis in 47 (8%); inflammatory bowel disease in 28 (6%) and infectious colitis in 13 (3%). Risks, complications and limitations of colonoscopy, as well as its great utility in diagnosis and treatment of colonic hemorrhagic lesions are commented.