Low Rates of Gastrointestinal and Non-Gastrointestinal Complications for Screening or Surveillance Colonoscopies in a Population-Based Study  Louise Wang, Ajitha Mannalithara, Gurkirpal Singh, Uri Ladabaum  Gastroenterology  Volume 154, Issue 3, Pages 540-555.e8 (February 2018) DOI: 10.1053/j.gastro.2017.10.006 Copyright © 2018 AGA Institute Terms and Conditions

Gastroenterology 2018 154, 540-555. e8DOI: (10. 1053/j. gastro. 2017 Copyright © 2018 AGA Institute Terms and Conditions

Figure 1 Crude rates (and 95% CIs) of selected severe GI and non-GI complications after colonoscopy, by procedure subtype, and after non-colonoscopy comparators presumed to have low systemic risk. For colonoscopy, “diagnostic” signifies without biopsy/polypectomy/intervention, and “intervention” signifies with biopsy/polypectomy/intervention. Serious GI complication rates were higher after colonoscopy than after comparator procedures, as might be expected. Serious non-GI complications tended not to be higher after screening/surveillance colonoscopy than after comparator procedures. Adjusted odds ratios are shown in Table 4. Gastroenterology 2018 154, 540-555.e8DOI: (10.1053/j.gastro.2017.10.006) Copyright © 2018 AGA Institute Terms and Conditions

Figure 2 Post-colonoscopy complications by age. Patient age groups younger and older than the 50–59 years reference group had higher odds of post-colonoscopy complications, in particular GI complications, except for cardiac and cerebrovascular complications, which increased progressively with age. The fact that most colonoscopies in those under age 50 were likely prompted by lower GI symptoms and possible underlying serious GI disease, such as inflammatory bowel disease, may explain the higher complication rates in this younger group. Gastroenterology 2018 154, 540-555.e8DOI: (10.1053/j.gastro.2017.10.006) Copyright © 2018 AGA Institute Terms and Conditions