BACKGROUND: Anxiety, discomfort, and high levels of concern can affect patient attitude toward endoscopic procedures as well as compliance and adherence to current recommendations for the examination. This study evaluated how patients perceive flexible sigmoidoscopy. METHODS: A prospective study was conducted at two sites of 764 patients presenting for GI endoscopy (flexible sigmoidoscopy 175, colonoscopy 384, EGD 205). Before these procedures, patients rated their anticipated (preprocedure) difficulty and degree of concern for each of 30 specific concerns. After the procedure, the patients rated their actual (postprocedure) difficulty. Patients' levels of concerns and difficulty were compared before and after the procedure and among the 3 procedure types. RESULTS: Before the procedure, patients who were to undergo flexible sigmoidoscopy had fewer concerns and lower scores for the severity of the concerns than did patients having colonoscopy or EGD. After the procedure, patients who had flexible sigmoidoscopy rated it as more difficult than patients who had colonoscopy or EGD. Patients who had colonoscopy and EGD graded their actual difficulty as less than their anticipated difficulty. However, patients who had flexible sigmoidoscopy rated the actual difficulty the same as the anticipated difficulty. CONCLUSIONS: Although patients have fewer concerns regarding flexible sigmoidoscopy than for the other endoscopic procedures, after the procedure they rate sigmoidoscopy as more difficult compared with postprocedure ratings by patients who underwent colonoscopy or EGD. This suggests that it may be necessary to change the perception of flexible sigmoidoscopy as being the best tolerated of the endoscopic procedures.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Drug therapies for mesenteric vascular disease.

Mesenteric vascular disease has been increasingly diagnosed in the past 25 years. This rise in incidence has been attributed to the advanced mean age of the population and increasing number of critically ill patients, and to a greater clinical recognition of the condition. While surgical revascularization and resection has long been the standard of treatment, medical management also plays an important role. Early diagnosis before irreversible bowel damage, which may occur within 6 to 8 hours after insult, is the goal of successful medical treatment without surgical intervention. Even in the presence or irreversible bowel ischemia, perioperative medical treatment may reduce the progression of further ischemia, and bowel resection may be limited. This article outlines the appropriate medical management of ischemic disorders of the intestine, with an emphasis on the drug treatments presently used in clinical practice and those being studied in the laboratory.

Anticoagulants↗