BACKGROUND Although colorectal cancer (CRC) screening strategies are quite common in the United States, their systematic introduction in Europe has been delayed until the year 2008. To estimate endoscopic requirements of four different CRC screening strategies (annual and biennial fecal occult blood testing (FOBT), flexible sigmoidoscopy every 5 years, and colonoscopy every 10 years) in an aver...

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this trial was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of recently developed suppositories containing free fatty acids as a bowel-cleansing agent prior to flexible sigmoidoscopy and compare them with Klyx (docusate sodium/sorbitol). DESIGN A controlled, non-inferiority, single-blind, randomised study on outpatients undergoing flexible sigmoidoscopy. SETTING Department ...

INTRODUCTION Screening can prevent colorectal cancer from becoming advanced by early detection of precancerous lesions. Cost-effectiveness analysis of colorectal cancer screening methods is highly necessary due to increased prevalence, decreased age at onset and the limited budget in Iran. METHODS Methods of screening currently available in Iran were selected. A systematic search revealed the...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS In the USA and many other countries, endoscopic surveillance of colorectal adenoma patients is now widely practised. However, the optimal frequency and mode of such surveillance are not yet established. The aim of this trial was to compare surveillance at one, two, or five year intervals using either flexible sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy. METHODS Analysis of a randomised t...

BACKGROUND Fecal occult blood testing, flexible sigmoidoscopy, and colonoscopy are used to screen patients for colorectal cancer. OBJECTIVE To compare the cost-effectiveness of fecal occult blood testing, flexible sigmoidoscopy, and colonoscopy. DESIGN The cost-effectiveness of the three screening strategies was compared by using computer models of a Markov process. In the model, a hypothet...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS The aim of our study was to determine whether chromoendoscopy with indigo carmine significantly improves the detection of adenomas in the distal colon and rectum and therefore could become routine in flexible sigmoidoscopy screening. METHODS Between 2001- 2003, two sigmoidoscopies, the first conventional, the second with chromoendoscopy, were performed in a "back-to-back" ...

BACKGROUND & AIMS Past studies of the human intestinal microbiota are potentially confounded by the common practice of using bowel-cleansing preparations. We examined if colonic lavage changes the natural state of enteric mucosal-adherent microbes in healthy human subjects. METHODS Twelve healthy individuals were divided into three groups; experimental group, control group one, and control gr...