Ischemic colitis after enema administration: Incidence, timing, and clinical features

BACKGROUND Enema administration is a common procedure in the emergency department(ED). However, several published case reports on enema-related ischemic colitis(IC) have raised the concerns regarding the safety of enema agents. Nevertheless, information on its true incidence and characteristics are still lacking.AIM To investigate the incidence, timing, and risk factors of IC in patients receiving enema.METHODS We consecutively collected the data of all adult patients receiving various enema administrations in the ED from January 2010 to December 2018 and identified patients confirmed with IC following enema. Of 8320 patients receiving glycerin enema, 19 diagnosed of IC were compared with an age-matched control group without IC.RESULTS The incidence of IC was 0.23% among 8320 patients receiving glycerin enema;however, there was no occurrence of IC among those who used other enema agents. The mean age ± standard deviation(SD) of patients with glycerin enemarelated IC was 70.2 ± 11.7. The mean time interval ± SD from glycerin enema administration to IC occurrence was 5.5 h ± 3.9 h(range 1-15 h). Of the 19 glycerin enema-related IC cases, 15(79.0%) were diagnosed within 8 h. The independent risk factors for glycerin-related IC were the constipation score [Odds ratio(OR), 2.0;95% confidence interval(CI): 1.1-3.5, P = 0.017] and leukocytosis(OR, 4.5;95%CI: 1.4-14.7, P = 0.012).CONCLUSION The incidence of glycerin enema-related IC was 0.23% and occurred mostly in the elderly in the early period following enema administration. Glycerin enemarelated IC was associated with the constipation score and leukocytosis.

Temporal trends in the misdiagnosis rates between Crohn's disease and intestinal tuberculosis

AIM To investigate the temporal trends in the misdiagnosis rate between Crohn's disease(CD) and intestinal tuberculosis(ITB) in South Korea. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients managed for CD or ITB at Asan Medical Center, a tertiary referral hospital, Seoul, Korea between 1996 and 2014. The temporal trends in the misdiagnosis rates between the two diseases were analyzed. The demographic and clinical characteristics were compared between CD patients who were initially misdiagnosed as ITB(final CD group) and vice versa(final ITB group). Final diagnostic criteria for ITB and medication for CD before definite diagnosis of TB were also analyzed in final ITB group.RESULTS In total, 2760 patients were managed for CD and 772 patients for ITB between 1996 and 2014. As well, 494 of the 2760 CD patients(17.9%) were initially misdiagnosed as ITB and 83 of the 772 ITB patients(10.8%) as CD. The temporal trend in misdiagnosing CD as ITB showed a decrease(OR = 0.89, 95%CI: 0.87-0.91, P < 0.001), whereas the temporal trend in misdiagnosing ITB as CD showed an increase(OR = 1.06, 95%CI: 1.01-1.11, P = 0.013). Age at diagnosis, presenting symptoms, and proportion of patients with active/past perianal fistula and active/inactive pulmonary tuberculosis(TB) were significantly different between final CD group and final ITB group. Forty patients(48.2%) in final ITB group were diagnosed by favorable response to empirical anti-TB treatment. Seventeen patients(20.5%) in final ITB group had inappropriately received corticosteroids and/or thiopurines due to misdiagnosis as CD. However, there were no mortalities in both groups. CONCLUSION Cases of CD misdiagnosed as ITB have been decreasing, whereas cases of ITB misdiagnosed as CD have been increasing over the past two decades.