Patient selection: colonoscopy
Outcome: abdominal pain, discomfort
Risk factors for an uncomfortable colonoscopy on multivariate analysis:
(1) female gender
(2) age <= 40 years of age
(3) lower body mass index (BMI, < 18.5 kg per square meter)
(4) history of previous abdomino-pelvic surgery if female
(5) technical difficulty
Other factors that may contribute to pain
(1) symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) by Rome II criteria
(2) poor bowel preparation
(3) time to cecal intubation > 8 minutes
(4) not a routine checkup