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Open AccessSystematic Review
Experimental Measurements of the Length of the Human Colon: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
by
Faiz Alqarni
Faiz Alqarni
Tejal Akbar
Tejal Akbar 
,
Hala Fatani
Hala Fatani
Soma Kumasaka
Soma Kumasaka
Caroline L. Hoad
Caroline L. Hoad
Caroline L Hoad is a senior research fellow at the University of Nottingham. She gained her PhD in [...]
Caroline L Hoad is a senior research fellow at the University of Nottingham. She gained her PhD in MRI Physics at the University of Exeter. She has been based in the Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre at the University of Nottingham for over 20 years and has close links with colleagues from both the Nottingham Digestive Diseases Centre in the School of Medicine and the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre. Her research areas include quantitative magnetic resonance imaging in the gastrointestinal tract and liver, where she has published extensively. Her recent research interests include quantifying motility in the GI tract from cine MRI data. She has developed much of the software along with imaging and analysis protocols that are used by colleagues across the GI MRI group at the University of Nottingham.
Robin C. Spiller
Robin C. Spiller
Robin C Spiller is a Professor in Gastroenterology at the University of Nottingham, UK. He was at at [...]
Robin C Spiller is a Professor in Gastroenterology at the University of Nottingham, UK. He was educated at Cambridge University and completed medical studies at University Hospital, London. He received his MD from Cambridge University in 1985 and was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in 1993. He was a Medical Research Council Travelling Fellow to the Mayo Clinic in 1984 and was appointed Consultant Gastroenterologist at University Hospital, Nottingham, in 1988. He is a member of the British and American Societies of Gastroenterology and the European Society of Neurogastroenterology and Motility and the past Chairman of the Neurogastroenterology and Motility Section of the British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG). He edited the BSG Guidelines for the management of IBS and is a member of the Co-ordinating Committee of the Rome Foundation, an international group that produced the Rome III criteria for the classification of functional GI diseases. He has been Editor of Gut and International Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology since 2003. His main interest is in functional GI diseases and understanding the role of inflammation and abnormalities of serotonin and secretion in irritable bowel syndrome.
Moira A. Taylor
Moira A. Taylor
Luca Marciani
Luca Marciani
Luca Marciani graduated in Physics at the University of Genoa in Italy. He then worked in Milan and [...]
Luca Marciani graduated in Physics at the University of Genoa in Italy. He then worked in Milan and London before joining the University of Nottingham. He was awarded his PhD in Physics at the Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre, where he worked on a series of multi-disciplinary research contracts. Thanks to a Wellcome Trust VIP Fellowship and an RCUK Academic Fellowship, he then moved to the School of Medicine, where he is a Professor in Gastrointestinal Imaging at the Nottingham Digestive Diseases Centre (NDDC) within the Translational Medical Sciences academic unit. He serves as Deputy Director (Research) of Translational Medical Sciences, Honours Year Co-Lead for Translational Medical Sciences, on the Nottingham NIHR Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) Gastrointestinal & Liver theme Strategy Board and the Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre Science Committee. He chairs the Gastrointestinal MRI Research Group. He was awarded the RinR/Wellcome/RCUK Communicator's Award for his science outreach work with secondary school pupils. He is a member of the NIHR Invention for Innovation (i4i) Funding Committee B. His expertise is in imaging the human gastrointestinal (GI) tract using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). His research focuses on gastrointestinal physiology and pathology using MRI methods in combination with other physiological and behavioral techniques.
1
Translational Medical Sciences, Nottingham Digestive Diseases Centre, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK
2
National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK
3
King Saud Medical City, Ministry of Health, Riyadh 11196, Saudi Arabia
4
Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Gunma 371-8511, Japan
5
Radiological Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK
6
Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
7
The David Greenfield Human Physiology Unit, School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Submission received: 29 August 2024
/
Revised: 24 September 2024
/
Accepted: 29 September 2024
/
Published: 30 September 2024
Abstract
Purpose: Knowledge of the length of the colon is relevant to understanding physiological and pathological function. It also has implications for diagnostic and clinical interventions, as well as for the design of delayed-release drug formulations and drug disposition modeling. Methods: Over the years, a range of different experimental methods have been employed to assess colon length. These methods vary from direct measurements on cadavers and during intraoperative procedures to measurements obtained from endoscopic and medical imaging techniques. However, no systematic review or meta-analysis of these findings has yet been carried out. In this systematic review, we identified 31 published experimental studies that measured the length of the human colon and/or its segments. Results: We synthesized the available data, comprising colon length measurements from 5741 adults and 337 children and young people, in a meta-analysis. The data contribute to our understanding of colon morphology and may have implications for clinical practice, particularly for colonoscopy and preoperative planning of surgical resections. Additionally, this review provides potential insights into anatomical correlates of functional diseases, such as constipation. Conclusions: This review highlights that non-invasive, non-destructive diagnostic imaging techniques, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), can provide more physiologically relevant measurements of colon length. However, there is a need for more standardized measurement protocols and for additional pediatric data.
Share and Cite
MDPI and ACS Style
Alqarni, F.; Akbar, T.; Fatani, H.; Kumasaka, S.; Hoad, C.L.; Spiller, R.C.; Taylor, M.A.; Marciani, L.
Experimental Measurements of the Length of the Human Colon: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Diagnostics 2024, 14, 2190.
https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics14192190
AMA Style
Alqarni F, Akbar T, Fatani H, Kumasaka S, Hoad CL, Spiller RC, Taylor MA, Marciani L.
Experimental Measurements of the Length of the Human Colon: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Diagnostics. 2024; 14(19):2190.
https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics14192190
Chicago/Turabian Style
Alqarni, Faiz, Tejal Akbar, Hala Fatani, Soma Kumasaka, Caroline L. Hoad, Robin C. Spiller, Moira A. Taylor, and Luca Marciani.
2024. "Experimental Measurements of the Length of the Human Colon: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis" Diagnostics 14, no. 19: 2190.
https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics14192190
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