Carbon dioxide for gut distension during digestive endoscopy: Technique and practice survey

Table 1 Demographic characteristics of the 142 survey respondents (mean ± SD)

Characteristics	n (%)
Male gender	109 (76.8)
Age (yr)	47.7 ± 9.1
Years in practice	17.5 ± 9.2
Country
Belgium	25 (17.6)
Greece	18 (12.7)
Italy	18 (12.7)
France	16 (11.3)
Spain	10 (7.0)
Switzerland	9 (6.3)
Other	46 (32.4)
Main practice setting
Private	36 (25.4)
Community Hospital	54 (38.0)
University Hospital	52 (36.6)
No. of colonoscopies performed/year in the center
< 500	7 (4.9)
500-1000	40 (28.2)
1000-1500	33 (23.2)
> 1500	62 (43.7)
Proportion of colonoscopies performed with propofol/general anesthesia
< 20%	74 (52.1)
20%-39%	4 (2.8)
40%-59%	0
60%-79%	15 (10.6)
80%-100%	49 (34.5)
Main patient pattern
Outpatients	48 (33.8)
Inpatients	5 (3.5)
Mixed	89 (62.7)

Table 2 Characteristics of CO₂ insufflators available for gut distension during endoscopy

	CO2-efficient	Olympus keymed ECR	Olympus UCR
Weight (kg)	9.0	26.0	4.9
Size (mm)	254 × 140 × 254	420 × 1049 × 539	130 × 156 × 334
Output of CO2 adjustable	No1	No	No
Indicator of the amount of gas delivered	Yes	No	No
Indicator of “empty tank”	Yes	Yes	Yes
FDA approved/CE mark	Yes/Yes	Yes/Yes	Yes/Yes
Availability	International	United Kingdom	International
Price (euros)	7400	NA	7000
Manufacturer	Bracco Imaging SPA, San Donato Milanese, Italy	Olympus Keymed, Southend-on-Sea, UK	Olympus, Tokyo, Japan

FDA: Food and Drug Administration; NA: not available.

¹When the vent hole of the insufflation/irrigation valve is not occluded, CO₂ flow decreases from 3 L/min to a managed flow of 0.25 L/min, in order to preserve CO₂ reserves. None of the three models allows selecting between different intensities of CO₂ flow (in contrast with the selection of low/medium/high intensities of air flow with air insufflators).