SIGMOIDOSCOPIC EXAMINATION. ROUTINE USE FOR PATIENTS IN HOSPITAL.

Routine sigmoidoscopic examination as a screening method for detecting cancer of the colon was evaluated during a recent four-year period. In 18,120 patients, this examination discovered 1,087 with unsuspected benign polyps (6.0 per cent), 51 patients with unsuspected malignant polyps (0.28 per cent), and 36 patients with unsuspected cancer (0.2 per cent). These 36 cases of cancer of the colon made up 24.8 per cent of all the cancers that occurred in the lower sigmoid and rectum (within 25 cm of the anorectal junction) in the series.