MedTrace Logo

Reduction of Pain in Colonoscopy - Loop First Versus Last

NCT06521658 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 1120

Last updated 2025-02-27

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Colonoscopy is an endoscopic examination of the colon. Colonoscopy is used to investigate medical gastroenterological diseases, as well as to investigate suspected cancer and to prevent it by identifying and removing premalignant changes - polyps (e.g., as part of the national screening program for colorectal cancer).

As part of a normal endoscopic examination, the tip of the endoscope is bent (retroflexed) to look "backward" into the rectum. This is done to better see the inside of the rectal opening. Performing such a retroflexion of the scope is often associated with discomfort/pain for the patient. It takes 5-10 seconds. There are no guidelines on when such a retroflexion should be done - at the beginning or at the end of the procedure. The aim is to investigate whether the timing of retroflexion makes a difference in the recollection of pain following the procedure. In this way, the pain of colonoscopy might be reduced in the future simply by changing the timing of the retroflexion.

The study is solely about performing this retroflexion either at the beginning or at the end of the examination. Nothing is changed in the diagnostic part of the examination.

The background of the study is a study from 2003 that shows that taking about a one-minute pause in the rectum at the end of the colonoscopy can reduce the overall pain perception of the examination. This was shown without changing the pain during the procedure and despite the fact that the examination itself was prolonged due to the intervention. This relationship is explained by studies showing that the pain experience at the end of a procedure has a greater influence than the pain experience at the beginning of a procedure on the overall pain experience.

Hypothesis: By retroflexing in the rectum first during a colonoscopy versus at the end, patients will perceive the overall procedure as less painful.

Conditions

Interventions

PROCEDURE

Timing of retroflexion

The intervention is the timing of the retroflexion/looping of the colonoscope in the rectum

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Esbjerg Hospital - University Hospital of Southern Denmark

    lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
OTHER
Masking
TRIPLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2024-09-23
Primary Completion
2025-01-15
Completion
2025-01-15

Countries

  • Denmark

Study Locations

More Related Trials

Entities

Diseases

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT06521658 on ClinicalTrials.gov