Gastroenterology News & Articles

1 Potentially Inappropriate Screening Colonoscopy in Medicare Patients: Variation by Physician and Geographic Region JAMA Internal Medicine, March 18, 2013
Sheffield KM et al. - Inappropriate use of colonoscopy involves unnecessary risk for older patients and consumes resources that could be used more effectively. To determine the frequency of potentially inappropriate colonoscopy in Medicare beneficiaries in Texas and to examine variation among physicians and across geographic regions. Many colonoscopies performed in older adults may be inappropriate. The likelihood of undergoing potentially inappropriate colonoscopy depends in part on ...

2 Random biopsies during surveillance colonoscopy increase dysplasia detection in patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis and ulcerative colitis Journal of Crohn's and Colitis, April 8, 2013
Navaneethan U et al. - Patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) and ulcerative colitis (UC) are at increased risk of colon dysplasia. The role of random vs. target biopsies in these patients has not been investigated. The aim was to evaluate the yield and clinical impact of random biopsies during surveillance colonoscopies in patients with PSC–UC. Random biopsies significantly increase the yield of dysplasia in patients with PSC and UC even in the absence of endoscopic ...

3 The impact of fair colonoscopy preparation on colonoscopy use and adenoma miss rates in patients undergoing outpatient colonoscopy Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, May 6, 2013
Menees SB et al. - The study aims to assess the impact of fair bowel preparation on endoscopists' interval colonoscopy recommendations and miss rates in colonoscopies performed within 3 years of the index colonoscopy in average-risk patients undergoing colorectal cancer screening. Fair bowel preparation led to a deviation from national guidelines with early repeat colonoscopy follow-up recommendations in nearly 60% of average-risk patients with normal colonoscopy ...

4 Telephone-based re-education on the day before colonoscopy improves the quality of bowel preparation and the polyp detection rate: a prospective, colonoscopist-blinded, randomised, controlled study Gut, April 10, 2013
Liu X et al. - Despite advances in bowel preparation methods, the quality of bowel preparation in some patients undergoing colonoscopy remains unsatisfactory. The effect of telephone re-education (TRE) on the day before colonoscopy on the quality of bowel preparation and other outcome measures had not been studied. TRE about the details of bowel preparation on the day before colonoscopy significantly improved the quality of bowel preparation and PDR. Methods A ...

5 Risk of Colorectal Cancer After Colonoscopy Compared With Flexible Sigmoidoscopy or No Lower Endoscopy Among Older Patients in the United States, 1998-2005 Mayo Clinic Proceedings, March 29, 2013
Wang Y.R. et al.- To determine whether the risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) decreases after colonoscopy compared with sigmoidoscopy or no lower endoscopy. Among older patients, the risk of distal CRC decreased after both colonoscopy and sigmoidoscopy; the risk of proximal CRC decreased after colonoscopy but not sigmoidoscopy. Methods Patients 67 to 80 years old in the 5% random Medicare sample of the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results and Medicare–linked database were ...

6 How often should we perform surveillance colonoscopy after surgery for colorectal cancer International Journal of Colorectal Disease, June 5, 2013
Sakamoto T et al. – This study aimed to clarify the current timing of surveillance colonoscopies and evaluate the rates of local recurrence and metachronous tumors. Considering the low incidence of postoperative lesions and the timing of lesion detection, reducing the number of surveillance colonoscopies after surgery for colorectal cancer may be appropriate. Methods The authors retrospectively analyzed data from 459 patients who underwent surveillance colonoscopy at the institution ...

7 A novel method with significant impact on adenoma detection: combined water-exchange and cap-assisted colonoscopy Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, March 25, 2013
Yen AW et al. - The study aims to investigate the impact of combined water-exchange and cap-assisted colonoscopy (WCC) on detection of adenomas and proximal colon serrated polyps. ADR and adenomas per colonoscopy are both sensitive indicators of colonoscopy quality. WCC merges two simple methods to improve the performance of screening and surveillance colonoscopy. The data suggest that larger, prospective studies are necessary to determine if there are differences between ...

8 1 in 4 colonoscopies in Medicare patients found to be potentially inappropriate EurekAlert!, March 14, 2013
A new study by researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston published online in JAMA Internal Medicine shows that one out of four colonoscopies paid for by Medicare is potentially inappropriate under current screening guidelines set forth by the United States Preventive Services Task Force. The USPSTF says a colonoscopy is inappropriate if repeated within 10 years after a negative screening result in a patient 70 to 75 who is not experiencing symptoms. Routine screening ...

9 Trichuriasis diagnosed by colonoscopy: case report and review of the literature spanning 22 years in mainland China International Journal of Infectious Diseases, March 28, 2013
Wang DD et al. - The authors report a case of trichuriasis diagnosed by colonoscopy performed in a non-endemic area and review the literature on the colonoscopic diagnosis of Trichuris trichiura spanning 22 years (1989–2011) in mainland China. A total of 4382 trichuriasis cases were diagnosed by colonoscopy out of 41 337 patients who underwent colonoscopy. Most of the patients were cured by unloading the whipworms using colonoscopy pincers. The authors strongly suggest colonoscopy ...

10 A Direct Comparison of the Prevalence of Advanced Adenoma and Cancer between Surveillance and Screening Colonoscopies Digestion, May 10, 2013
Crispin A et al. - Surveillance colonoscopy is recommended after polypectomy of adenoma and surgery for colorectal cancer. The purpose of this study was to assess the frequency of advanced adenoma and cancer in colonoscopies performed for surveillance compared to screening colonoscopies. colonoscopy for post-ad surveillance but not colonoscopy for post-crc surveillance is associated with a lower risk of diagnosis of advanced adenoma and cancer.