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Two hundred and forty consecutive patients with recurrent lower gastrointestinal bleeding were studied by colonoscopic examination. These included 187 adults and 53 children. The procedure was successful either in identifying the lesion or in excluding it up to the cecum in 216 (90% patients). The source of bleeding was identified in 138 (74%) adults and 43 (81%) Children. Predominant lesions in adults were nonspecific colitis and ulcers (58%), polyps (19%), cancer (10%), rectal varices (4%) and tuberculosis (3%). Juvenile polyps (77%) and nonspecific colitis and ulcers (23%) were the cause of bleeding in children. Both in adults and children, 92% of these lesions involved the left colon. Rectum and sigmoid colon were mainly involved. Diffuse lesions were seen when nonspecific colitis and ulcers were the source of bleeding. Thus colonoscopic examination was useful in localizing the cause of rectal bleeding and the predominant lesions were different from those reported in the Western hemisphere.

One hundred and forty four patients underwent colonoscopy to detect the cause of rectal bleeding. This was successful in either identifying the lesion or excluding the presume of lesions up to the cecum in 88.8% patients. The source of bleeding was diagnosed in 106 (73.61%) patients. Predominant lesions were nonspecific colitis and ulcers (62.26%), polyps (17.92%), cancer (8.49%), rectal varices (3.77%) and tuberculosis (1.88%). The remainder had other colonic conditions such as radiation colitis, ischemic colitis, vascular malformation, diverticulosis, right sided ulcerative colitis and pseudo-pancreatic cyst communicating with the descending colon. The majority (94.33%) of these lesions involved the left colon. Thus colonoscopic examination was useful in localizing the cause of rectal bleeding and the predominant lesions were differed from those reported in the western hemisphere.

The colonoscopic findings in 11 proven cases of ileocecal tuberculosis consisted of deformed ileocecal valve in all 11 and contracted cecal lumen in 10. This was associated with mucosal nodules predominantly around the ileocecal valve, pseudopolypoid folds, and mucosal protuberance. Two patients had an isolated cecal ulcer. In three of the 11 patients the examination enabled a histologic diagnosis to be made on the basis of typical granuloma. In the other four patients Mycobacterium tuberculosis was isolated from the tissue obtained through biopsies.