Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on colonoscopy results - an overview

Introduction: Colorectal cancers are common cancers. Colonoscopy procedure, which is applied in the early diagnosis and treatment of this disease, has a very important role. Aim: In this study, we aimed to examine the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic period on our colonoscopic procedures. Material and methods: In this observational study, the data of the patients who underwent colonoscopy in our General Surgery Endoscopy Unit, between March 11, 2019 and March 12, 2021 were scanned retrospectively. Patients under 18 years of age were excluded. The patients were divided into 2 groups. 1. Group patients between 11 March 2019-11 March 2020; patients in the pre-COVID-19 period, Group 2, on March 12, 2020-March 12, 2021; Grouped as the COVID-19 era. Results: Data of 8285 patients were analyzed. A total of 4889 patients in Group 1 and 3396 patients in Group 2 were included in the study. The detection of precancerous polyps between the groups was found to be significantly higher in group 1 (p < 0.05) (4.3% vs 2.1). Similarly, the presence of precancerous polyps over the age of 65 was found to be significantly higher in the pre-covid group. In group 1, no significant difference was found in the evaluation of cancer patients according to gender (p > 0.05) (F/M: 1.2%/1.6%). In group 2, cancer patients were found to be significantly higher in males. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic has had negative effects in many areas, as well as on our colonoscopic procedures. Experienced centers continue to work to minimize these negative effects.