Comparison of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) to Air Insufflation in Colonoscopy in Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Overview

Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) frequently undergo endoscopic examination and may suffer from diagnostic procedures. Independent from IBD patients, colonoscopy is usually performed using air insufflation, however recent data indicates a superior role of carbon dioxide (CO2) as an insufflation gas during colonoscopy. Using CO2 leads to a lower degree of patient's discomfort. The role of CO2 as an insufflation gas for colonoscopy in IBD patients remains undetermined, wherefore this study aims to address this issue.

Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) suffer from a chronic inflammatory course of disease. To stage the course of disease endoscopic procedures including colonoscopy may be required and especially IBD patients with their inflamed gut may suffer from repetitive endoscopic examinations including colonoscopy. Independent from IBD patients, colonoscopy is usually performed using air insufflation, however recent data indicates a superior role of carbon dioxide (CO2) as an insufflation gas during colonoscopy. Using CO2 leads to a lower degree of patient's discomfort which has been mainly demonstrated in groups of patients undergoing cancer surveillance colonoscopies and who do not suffer from IBD. Therefore the role of CO2 as an insufflation gas for colonoscopy in IBD patients remains undetermined and this study aims to address this issue. For pain assessment a visual analogue scale will be used. As the primary outcome measure, the investigators will compare the differences in pain level 1h after colonoscopy (comparison of carbon dioxide to air insufflation). For the secondary outcome measure the investigators will compare the differences in pain level 3h, 6h and 24h after colonoscopy (comparison of carbon dioxide to air insufflation).