A Prospective Cohort Study of Colonic Malignancy in a Tertiary Care Hospital in North Kerala, India

Abstract

Introduction: Colon cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer in males and the second in females, with more than 1.4 million new cancer cases every year. Colon cancer can take many years to develop and early detection of colon cancer greatly improves the chances of a cure. Aim: This study was conducted to study the different modes of clinical presentation of colonic malignancy and its relation to the site of the lesion as seen at a tertiary care hospital in North Kerala, India. Materials and Methods: This was a prospective cohort study carried out on patients diagnosed with colonic cancer and admitted to the Department of Surgery of a tertiary care hospital in North Kerala, India, during the study period of one year from November 2014 to November 2015. Total of 45 patients were clinically evaluated, investigated, taken up for surgical management and followed-up. The collected data were entered into the study proforma and analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences. The Chi-square test for goodness of fit, Chi-square test for association and Student’s t-test were used. Results were considered statistically significant when p-value was less than 0.05. Results: Of the 42 cases of carcinoma of colon, 24 (57.1%) were males and 18 (42.9%) were females with a male to female ratio of 1.3:1. The maximum frequency of cases were in between the ages 51 and 60 years (6th decade) followed by the 7th and 8th decades. The mean age of presentation of carcinoma in the left colon (64.43 years) was significantly higher than the right side (55.95 years). The most common symptom/signs were abdominal pain (78.6%), anemia (54.8%), altered bowel habits (50%), abdominal mass (38.1%) loss of weight/appetite (33.3%), constipation (31%) and blood and mucus per rectum (28.6%). Conclusion: Cancer of the colon primarily affected older individuals especially those with left colonic cancers. Common complaints such as abdominal pain, altered bowel habits, constipation and blood and mucous per rectum were seen frequently in the patients having colonic cancer. Certain symptoms like constipation, altered bowel habits and blood and mucous per rectum were more in patients with cancer in the left colon.

Keywords

• colon cancer
• left colon
• right colon