Distensión colónica con bomba de CO2: Impacto en el disconfort del paciente en los estudios de colonoscopía virtual

objectives. to analyze the role of colonic distention with co2 and its influence on patients' discomfort and the duration of the virtual colonoscopy procedure in our daily practice. materials and methods. two hundred patients were evaluated, 50 were insufflated using room air and 150 with co2. the studies were performed with a 64-row ct scanner using 2-mm slice thickness, 120 kv and 50 mas. in all patients, scans were acquired both in prone and supine positions. we calculated the total procedure time in each group; a student's t-test was used to calculate the differences. patients completed a questionnaire about the degree of discomfort perceived. we used a scale of 0 to 3: 0- no discomfort, 1- mild, 2- moderate and 3- severe discomfort. we used a test of proportions to calculate the differences in the degree of discomfort between the two groups. results. the total procedure time was 30.5 minutes for studies performed with co2 and 35.4 minutes for those performed with room air, with a difference of -4.9 min (p =0.0003). as regards the assessment of discomfort, in the group insufflated with room air, 44% of patients reported a moderate degree of discomfort, while in the group insufflated with co2, 76% of the patients expressed no discomfort. conclusions. virtual colonoscopy performed with co2 insufflation partially reduced the total procedure time, and significantly reduced discomfort during and after the procedure.