Colonoscopias realizadas por médicos residentes em hospital universitário: análise consecutiva de 1000 casos

background: proficiency and competence of endoscopists is perhaps the mainstay of successful diagnostic and therapeutic colonoscopy. aim: to analyze indications, diagnostic findings, and complications of colonoscopies performed by resident physicians in a university teaching hospital. methods: were analyzed 1,000 colonoscopies consecutively performed by fourth-year residents under direct supervision of experienced colonoscopists. information on patients' demographic data, bowel preparation, indications for the procedure, success of the procedure, diagnostic findings, and complications were obtained. results: a total of 596 (59.6%) female and 404 (40.4%) male patients were examined. age ranged from 3 to 99 years (mean 53.8 years). bowel preparation was performed with 10% mannitol solution in 978 patients (97.8%), being considered appropriate in 97.6% of cases. main indications were: diagnosis (56.4%), therapy (9.6%), screening (17.3%), and surveillance (22%). cecal and ileocecal valve intubation rates were 90.3 and 58.6%, respectively. colonoscopy was normal in 45.8% of cases. the most common diagnosis was diverticulosis (18.5%), followed by polyps (17%) and malignancies (6.8%). findings consistent with an inflammatory process were identified in 122 patients (12.2%) and vascular abnormalities were detected in 11 patients (1.1%). other diagnoses accounted for 3.9% of cases. there were two cases (0.2%) of complications (submucosal hematoma and bleeding), both after polypectomy, with no need for surgical intervention. conclusion: the residents under supervision and guidance of specialists can perform colonoscopies with excellent success and low complication rates, with final results comparable to those achieved by fully trained endoscopists.