TUESDAY, May 2 (HealthDay News) -- Computed tomography colonography (CTC), including use of automated carbon dioxide delivery, is a safe diagnostic and screening procedure, according to research presented this week at the annual meeting of the American Roentgen Ray Society in Vancouver, Canada.
Perry J. Pickhardt, M.D., of the University of Wisconsin Medical School in Madison, and colleagues analyzed 21,923 diagnostic and screening CTC procedures, 60 percent of which were performed by manual room air insufflation and 40 percent of which were performed by automated carbon dioxide delivery.
The researchers found that no perforations occurred in patients who underwent screening CTC or in patients who underwent automated carbon dioxide delivery. They identified two perforations in patients who underwent diagnostic CTC with manual room air insufflation, only one of whom required treatment. They calculated an overall complication rate of 0.018 percent.
"The automated nature of carbon dioxide delivery removes the guesswork and patient coaching necessary with manual distention," Pickhardt said in a statement. "In addition, this automated approach with low-pressure carbon dioxide provides improved distention and reduced post-procedure discomfort. Our results provide reassurance to patients that this minimally invasive examination is a very safe colorectal screening tool."
Abstract (#097)
