Endoscopic evaluation of inflammatory bowel disease.

The colonoscopic examination is not a routine procedure for patients with inflammatory bowel disease; colonoscopy does not supersede the double contrast barium x-ray examination as the diagnostic study of choice. The use of colonoscopy in patients with inflammatory bowel disease must be dictated by the particular clinical situation or nature of the problem and governed by the severity of colitis, the physical condition of the patient and the overall safety of the procedure in each instance. The judicious application of the colonoscopic examination in certain patients with inflammatory bowel disease yields important information concerning the nature, extent, and complications of the colonic inflammatory process, which heretofore has been unavailable for use in diagnosis and management of inflammatory bowel disease.