Usefulness of Cap-assisted Colonoscopy in Patients With Prior Abdominal Surgery: A Randomized, Controlled Trial

The potential benefit of using the cap is that it helps in luminal orientation at bends by keeping the colonic mucosa away from the lens at the colonoscope tip. This assists in negotiating sharp turns by better anticipation of the direction. Cap-assisted colonoscopy can be tried as a salvage procedure in cases of failed cecal intubation with regular colonoscopy. Colonoscopy in patients with a history of abdominal surgery is considered to be difficult due to adhesion-related bowel angulations. There were few study evaluating usefulness of cap-assisted colonoscopy in patients with prior abdominal surgery. The investigators designed a randomized, controlled trial to verify the usefulness of cap-assisted colonoscopy in patients with prior abdominal surgery.