tci Part B Insider - 2004 Issue 30

Docs Overdo Surveillance Colonoscopies

Physicians appear to be performing surveillance colonoscopies at frequencies higher than those recommended by evidence-based medical guidelines, according to results of a survey conducted by the National Cancer Institute. Surveillance colonoscopies are follow-up colonoscopies given to patients who already have had a colorectal abnormality detected and removed. For the lowest risk example, a patient diagnosed with only a small hyperplastic polyp, 54 percent of general surgeons and 24 percent of gastroenterologists surveyed recommended follow-up colonoscopies at least every five years. But medical guidelines don't recommend any follow-up colonoscopy for hyperplastic polyps because the presence of these polyps hasn't been...

To read the full article, sign in and subscribe to tci Part B Insider.

Thank you for choosing Find-A-Code, please Sign In to remove ads.