Impact of enhanced personal protective equipment on colonoscopy performance during the COVID-19 pandemic

Impact of enhanced personal protective equipment on colonoscopy performance during the COVID-19 pandemic

Tiing Leong Ang, Kwong Ming Fock, Yu Jun Wong, Eng Kiong Teo, James Weiquan Li, Malcolm Teck Kiang Tan, Andrew Boon Eu Kwek, Shu Wen Tay, Kevin Kim Jun Teh, Kaina Chen, Samantha Jingyun Koh

Background and study aims Using personal protective equipment (PPE) can reduce risk of disease transmission. During the COVID-19 pandemic, enhanced PPE (EPPE) is recommended when performing endoscopy. We aimed to evaluate the impact of EPPE on colonoscopy performance when compared to standard PPE (SPPE). Patients and methods A review of electronic medical records and endoscopy reports of consecutive patients who underwent colonoscopy during two similar one-month time periods (in 2019 and during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020) was performed. SPPE was used in 2019 and EPPE was used in 2020. Patient clinical data and procedure-related information were captured and analyzed. The primary outcomes were time to cecum (TTC) and total procedure time. Secondary outcomes were adenoma detection rate (ADR), polyp detection rate (PDR) and cecal intubation rate (CIR). Statistical analysis was performed using STATA v16.1. Results Two hundred and forty-seven colonoscopy procedures were analyzed. Baseline demographics and indications for colonoscopy of patients in both groups were similar. There were no significant differences in median TTC (10.0 vs 10.0 min, P = 0.524) or total procedure time (22.5 vs 23.0 min, P = 0.946) between colonoscopy performed in SPPE and EPPE. The ADR, PDR and CIR were also similar. Conclusion Our findings suggest that use of EPPE does not affect colonoscopy performance.

2020

DOI: 10.1055/a-1167-1703

Endoscopy International Open

Georg Thieme Verlag

Diseases of the digestive system. Gastroenterology