Same-Day Examination by Gastric and Sigmoid Endoscopy for Multiphasic Health Testing and Services

PurposeThe endoscopic examination has been increasingly performed in the initial stage of the screening in medical checkups in Japan, but there were few studies with regard to same-day screening for gastric and colon cancers using endoscopy. The aim of the present study was to assess the usefulness and shortcomings of same-day examinations by endoscopy of the stomach and colon.Materials and MethodsThe examination for gastric cancer was performed using a panendoscope in about 10 examinees in the morning. A new small caliber electronic panendoscope with outer diameter of 6 mm was used as a transnasal gastric endoscope because of the increased safety and decreased invasiveness. Immedi-ately after gastric endoscopy, sigmoidoscopy carried out using a small-caliber videocolonoscope for detection of colon cancer. An immunological fecal occult blood test (FOBT) was also performed by a 2-day method for colon cancer screening. The subjects consisted of 3, 218 examinees, 1, 461 men and 1, 757 women with a mean age of 46.8 years old. The questionnaire for evaluation of the same-day endoscopy was collected from consecutive 1, 459 examinees.ResultsGastric endoscopy found early gastric cancer in 4 cases (0.12%) and esophageal cancer in 1. Colon cancer screening revealed colon cancer in 7 cases (0.22%) ; of these, intramucosal carcinoma was found in 6 cases and invasive cancer in 1. In addition, adenomatous polyp was detected in 209 cases (6.5%) ; of those 209 cases, FOBT was positive in only 10.5%. The results of the questionnaire indicated that the examination was generally acceptable as a mass screening.ConclusionThe same-day gastric and colon endoscopy system has an acceptable degree of accuracy and can be recommended as effective for routine screening of digestive tract cancer in relatively limited subjects coming to multiphasic health testing and services.