Quality of bowel cleansing in hospitalized patients undergoing colonoscopy: A multicentre prospective regional study.

Background: Quality of bowel cleansing in hospitalized patients undergoing colonoscopy is often unsatisfactory. No study has investigated the inpatient or outpatient setting as cause of inadequate cleansing.

Aims: To assess degree of bowel cleansing in inpatients and outpatients and to identify possible predictors of poor bowel preparation in the two populations.

Endoscopic plastic stenting for bile duct stones: stent changing on demand or every 3 months. A prospective comparison study.

Background And Study Aims: Endoscopic biliary sphincterotomy and stone removal is the standard of care for choledocholithiasis, with a success rate of > 90%. For stones ≤ 25 mm diameter, mechanical lithotripsy, extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy, electrohydraulic lithotripsy, and laser lithotripsy can be used. In the case of failure, the next step is surgery.

An analysis of the factors associated with the development of complications in patients undergoing precut sphincterotomy: a prospective, controlled, randomized, multicenter study.

Objectives: Precut is performed when biliary access at endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) fails. Precut may have adjunctive risks, but some authors have suggested that the attempts to cannulate the papilla that precede precutting cause complications. We evaluated the role of the timing of precut in determining the development of complications and with respect to the other factors involved.

Endoscopic dilation of benign colorectal anastomotic stricture after low anterior resection: A prospective comparison study of two balloon types.

Background: Benign strictures arise in 5.8% to 20% of colorectal anastomoses. For such strictures, endoscopic dilation has proven to be a valid and safe treatment.

Relationship between hiatal hernia and inguinal hernia.

Several theories explain the development of hiatal hernia (HH). Since inguinal hernia (IH) is due to abdominal wall herniation, we hypothesized that if HH is caused by an excessive "push" from increased intraabdominal pressure, there would be a greater than chance association between HH and IH. The aim of this prospective case-control study was to determine the relationship between HH, identified at endoscopy, and IH, found on clinical examination.

Comparison of treatment outcomes between biliary plastic stent placements with and without endoscopic sphincterotomy for inoperable malignant common bile duct obstruction.

Aim: Considerable controversy surrounds the adoption of endoscopic sphincterotomy (ES) to facilitate the placement of 10F plastic stents (PS) and to reduce the risk of pancreatitis The aim of the study was to assess the possible advantages of ES before PS placement.

Methods: From 3/1996 to 6/2001, 172 consecutive patients, who underwent placement of a single 10F- polyethylene stent for inoperable malignant strictures of the common bile duct, were randomly assigned to 2 groups. In group A (96 patients), a ES was performed before PS placement In Group B, 96 patients had PS directly.