Aspiration during colonoscopy: more common than you think?

Takeaway

• This study of Internet queries found a spike in queries about respiratory symptoms among search engine users who had undergone colonoscopy 7-10 days prior.

Why this matters

• Little is known about nonsevere adverse effect rates after colonoscopy.
• Colonoscopy with sedation is common in multiple countries, including the UK, Italy, and Singapore.
• Aspiration pneumonia might be an underreported complication of the procedure.

Key results

• Of queries about colonoscopy, 28% were made after the date of the test.
• Of those, the most common query (2.6%) addressed respiratory symptoms (cough, 1.21%; pneumonia, 0.58%).
• Those occurred most commonly about a week after colonoscopy.

Study design

• Study of search engine queries.
• Authors tallied 641,223 users’ queries on “colonoscopy,” then isolated subgroup in whom test date could be estimated (n=7013).
• They then checked whether those users subsequently queried about medical symptoms for 5 days before to 30 days after the date of colonoscopy.
• Funding: None.

Limitations

• Potential for selection bias.