Background: Documentation of cecal intubation is important for credentialin
g and continuous quality improvement. However, convincing cecal photographs
can be difficult to obtain. The aims of the study were to determine (1) th
e anatomic variations and photographic factors associated with convincing c
ecal photographs; (2) whether a prospective attempt to capture specific fea
tures resulted in more convincing photographs; and (3) how a prospective at
tempt at capturing convincing cecal features during still photography compa
res with videotaping as a method of documenting cecal intubation.
Methods: A single examiner evaluating 165 consecutive patients photographed
the entire cecum from just distal to the ileocecal valve, the appendiceal
orifice, the ileocecal valve orifice, and in the last 110 consecutive cases
, the terminal ileum, if it could be intubated. The photographs were then s
cored by 8 experts according to how convinced they were that cecal intubati
on had occurred. Features associated with high and low scores were determin
ed, and 50 additional consecutive patients were photographed with a specifi
c effort to capture these features, along with videotaping of the cecum. Th
ese photographs and videotapes were then scored by 7 of the 8 experts on a
scale of 1 to 5, with 5 representing "definitely the cecum:"
Results: There was marked variation in scores of still photographs among re
viewers. A combination of photographs produced the highest mean score and t
he highest percentage of scores that were either "probably" or "definitely"
of the cecum. The photograph of the cecum from just distal to the ileoceca
l valve was most convincing and the terminal ileum photograph was least con
vincing. In the 50 cases in which an attempt was made to capture specific f
eatures, mean scores improved for the overall cecal photograph by 0.10, the
appendiceal orifice by 0.23, the ileocecal valve lips by 0.20, and the ter
minal ileum by 0.19. The cecum, appendiceal orifice, valve lips, and termin
al ileum photographs for the last 50 patients were scored higher than those
from the first 165 patients by 4, 4, 4, and 5 reviewers, respectively. Vid
eotapes were consistently convincing (overall mean score 4.78 out of 5) and
were scored more convincing than the combination of still photos from the
final 50 cases by 6 of 7 reviewers.
Conclusions: Still photography of the cecum can be improved somewhat by att
empting to capture specific cecal features. However, because of anatomic va
riation among normal individuals, still photography remains inconsistently
convincing. A combination of photographs is most convincing. Videotaping of
the cecum is consistently convincing and would appear to serve effectively
as a means of documenting cecal intubation rates for the purposes of conti
nuous quality improvement and credentialing.