OBJECTIVE: In some hospitals an adult colonoscope is used for colon examination in children because they do not have child colonscope equipment. This has some disadvantages and this paper reports the experience for colon examination in children with an adult gastroscope instead of an adult colonoscope .METHODS: One hundred and three children aged from 1.3 to 14 years who required routine colon examination were randomly assigned to adult gastroscope (n=49) and adult colonoscope groups (n=54).RESULTS: There were no significant differences in the success rate of implantation into the ileocecum between the gastroscope and colonoscope groups (93.9% vs 94.4%; P>0.05). The average time of implantation into the ileocecum in the gastroscope group was shorter than that of the colonoscope group (5.2±1.1 min vs 7.3±2.9 min; P<0.05). Seventeen patients showed implantation-related complications in the colonoscope group but only 5 patients in the gastroscope group (P<0.01).CONCLUSIONS: An adult gastroscope appears to be safer and more feasible than an adult colonoscope for colon examination in children.