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SUMMARY BACKGROUND: Colorectal endoscopy is the gold standard investigation of the large bowel in patients with rectal bleeding and is employed as a means of secondary prevention of colorectal cancer. AIM: To determine the frequency of benign lesions and carcinomas in patients who underwent colorectal endoscopy because of rectal bleeding and to evaluate the role of endoscopy in secondary prevention of colorectal carcinoma in our centre. METHOD: A retrospective study was undertaken on patients who underwent colorectal endoscopy between January 1995 and December 2000 for rectal bleeding. RESULTS: Five hundred and ninety six (596) patients were studied. Males were 403 and females 93, mean age 50.9 (SD 7.07). Three hundred and ten patients (52%) had rigid proctosigmoidoscopy, flexible sigmoidoscopy 105 (17.6%) and colonoscopy 181 (30.4%). Of those who had colonoscopy complete examination of the colon was achieved in 55 patients (30.4%). Those in whom colonoscopy was incomplete had double contrast barium enema. Haemorrhoids were the commonest disease diagnosed, 316 patients (53%). Colorectal carcinoma 39 patients (6.7%), non-specific colitis 34 patients (5.7%), diverticular disease 27 patients (4.5%) and adenomatous polyps 17 patients (2.9%) were the next common disease. Less common conditions were ulcerative colitis, rectal schistosomiasis and angiodysplasia. In 125 patients (21.0) the cause of bleeding could not be found. CONCLUSION: An appreciable number of the patients with rectal bleeding had serious pathology that was diagnosed early by endoscopy confirming the important role of endoscopy in secondary prevention of colorectal carcinoma. The low success rate of full colonoscopy underscores the need for training in this procedure.
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BACKGROUND: For many years, double contrast barium enema has been an effective way to evaluate the large bowel. With the development of the colonoscope, the role of barium enema has been questioned. However it is still useful in investigating patients with colorectal symptoms especially in the developing world where colonoscopy is widely unavailable and fraught with challenges in completely evaluating the colon. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed at reviewing double contrast barium enema investigations in our centre. METHODS: This was a retrospective study on patients who underwent double contrast barium enema at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital from May 2003 to April 2007 on account of symptoms referable to the large bowel. RESULTS: A total of 362 investigation reports were studied, of which 205 were for males and 154 for females, the mean age of the patients was 55.3 years (S.D 15.3 years). Majority of the investigations, 228 (61.96%), were normal. Diverticular disease diagnosed in 88 (23.91%) cases was the commonest finding, followed by neoplasm 27 (7.34%) cases and Ulcerative colitis 6 (1.63%) cases, non-specific narrowing of the bowel in 4 (1.09%) and in 5 (1.36%) cases their investigations were inconclusive due to poor bowel preparation. Rectal bleeding was the most frequent symptom prompting barium enema studies. CONCLUSION: Double contrast barium enema study of the large bowel is an important evaluation of patients with colorectal symptoms. .
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Many tribes in Ghana have totems which they may relate with closely. The python is the totem of many of the tribes in the savanna belt of Ghana. Four cases of human pentastomiasis diagnosed incidentally through surgery and autopsy at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital all have the python as their totem and might have been in contact with this creature in the past. The transmission of the parasites to these people probably was directly from infested snake slime to humans.
