Cancer incidence in the Falkland Islands.

Cancer incidence in the Falkland Islands, 1989-2000, was compared with rates in England and Wales, from which most Islanders originate. Colon and rectum cancer incidence was significantly raised 1989-93 but greatly reduced after 1994, when colonoscopic screening in high-risk families and sigmoidoscopic screening in the general population were introduced.

Intravenous antispasmodic and patient-controlled analgesia are of benefit for screening flexible sigmoidoscopy.

The possible benefits of premedication with the antispasmodic hyoscine n-butyl bromide (hyoscine) and analgesia with inhaled nitrous oxide/oxygen mixture (nitrous oxide) were assessed in a double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial. Consecutive patients at normal risk for cancer undergoing screening flexible sigmoidoscopy were randomly allocated to receive either (1) intravenous hyoscine 20 mg plus inhaled oxygen on demand (n = 40), (2) sterile water injection plus inhaled nitrous oxide on demand (n = 48), or (3) sterile water injection plus inhaled oxygen on demand (n = 43). One recently trained primary care physician performed all procedures.