ePoster
Talk Description
Institution: University Hospital Geelong - Victoria, Australia
Purpose:
Endoscopy is the most common procedure performed in general surgery where one of the main aim is to look for colorectal cancer (CRC). While there are many studies showing a strong link between iron deficiency anaemia and CRC, there is a scarcity of research looking specifically at the significance of iron deficiency without anaemia and CRC. The purpose of the study is to look into the endoscopic findings in non-anaemic iron deficiency to rationalize the need and urgency of the procedure.
Methodology:
A retrospective cohort study was performed in a major tertiary hospital in Victoria across 2 sites during an 18 months period between 2021 to 2022 looking at the elective endoscopies (Colonoscopy +/- Gastroscopy) done in patients over 18 years old for asymptomatic non-anaemic iron deficiency.
Results:
A total of 193 patients out of 4686 underwent an elective endoscopic procedure to investigate asymptomatic iron deficiency without anaemia, where 169 patients appropriately underwent both a gastroscopy and a colonoscopy. The patients were predominantly females (141 vs 52) and were younger (51.1 vs 58.9) compared to males. There were 71 polyps detected (37%) where the majority were adenomas with low grade dysplasia. There were only 2 colon cancers detected, or 1 %, where both were males. This reflected the incidence of CRC in an asymptomatic cohort in the community.
Conclusion:
While anaemia remains a strong predictor for CRC, the absence of anaemia in an asymptomatic iron deficiency cohort shows that the rate of CRC is not higher than the lifetime incidence, where males were still at higher risk. A significant number of adenomatous polyps, which are precursors to CRC, were detected. This study indicates that a semi urgent colonoscopy would be warranted in the asymptomatic non-anaemic iron deficiency population, especially in the male cohort.
Speakers
Contributors
Authors
Dr Daniel Ng Ying Kin - , A/Prof Douglas Stupart -
