ACCURACY OF DOUBLE-CONTRAST BARIUM ENEMA AND SIGMOIDEOSCOPY IN THE DETECTION OF POLYPS IN PATIENTS WITH DIVERTICULOSIS

The sensitivity between double contrast barium enema (DCBE) and sigmoi deoscopy in diagnosing neoplastic lesions in the sigmoid colon was com pared in patients with diverticulosis. In 52 patients with severe dive rticulosis (greater than or equal to 15 diverticulas) the DCBE detecte d one out of 4 polyps found by sigmoideoscopy. In the remaining 54 pat ients with mild diverticulosis (<15 diverticulas) DCBE detected 7 out of 10 polyps found by sigmoideoscopy. Successful bowel preparation did not influence the outcome of the DCBE. Sigmoideoscopy was incomplete in 17 (16%) of the patients; females were more difficult to examine th an males (p = 0.012), as were those with a previous pelvic operation ( p=0.032). We conclude that neither DCBE nor sigmoideoscopy alone is su fficient to detect all neoplastic lesions in the sigmoid colon in pati ents with sigmoid diverticulosis of the colon.