The absence of bacteremia during colonoscopy.

Seventy-nine blood cultures were obtained from 15 patients undergoing diagnostic colonoscopy. Aerobic and anaerobic culture technics showed no evidence of bacteremia during or after the procedure. The colonoscope was passed to the cecum in 12 of the 15 patients. The time of the procedure varied from 15-60 minutes with an average of 30 minutes. The results of this study supplies further evidence that bacteremia during colonoscopy is an infrequent occurrence.