Published online Apr 28, 2020. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v26.i16.1962
Peer-review started: February 3, 2020
First decision: February 27, 2020
Revised: March 26, 2020
Accepted: April 17, 2020
Article in press: April 17, 2020
Published online: April 28, 2020
Processing time: 84 Days and 17.8 Hours
The adenoma detection rate (ADR) is inversely associated with the incidence of interval colorectal cancer and serves as a benchmark quality criterion during screening colonoscopy. However, adenoma miss rates reach up to 26% and studies have shown that a second inspection of the right colon in retroflected view (RFV) can increase ADR.
To assess whether inspection of the whole colon in RFV compared to standard forward view (SFV) can increase ADR.
Patients presenting for screening or surveillance colonoscopy were invited to participate in this randomized controlled trial and randomized into two arms. In RFV arm colonoscopy was initially performed with SFV, followed by a second inspection of the whole colon in RFV. In the SFV arm first withdrawal was performed with SFV, followed by a second inspection of the whole colon again with SFV. Number, size and morphology of polyps found during first and second inspection in each colonic segment were recorded and all polyps were removed and sent for histopathology in separate containers.
Two hundred and five patients were randomly assigned to the RFV (n = 101) and SFV (n = 104) arm. In the RFV arm, both polyp detection rate (PDR) and ADR were increased under second inspection in RFV (PDR 1st SFV: 39.8%, PDR 2nd RFV: 46.6%; ADR 1st SFV: 35.2%, ADR 2nd RFV: 42%). Likewise, in the SFV arm, PDR and ADR were increased under second inspection (PDR 1st SFV: 37.5%, PDR 2nd SFV: 46.6%; ADR 1st SFV: 34.1%, ADR 2nd SFV: 44.3%) with no significant differences in ADR and PDR between the SFV and RFV arm. Mean number of adenomas per patient (APP) was increased in the RFV and SFV (APP RFV arm: 1st SFV: 1.71; 2nd RFV: 2.38; APP SFV arm: 1st SFV: 1.83, 2nd SFV:2.2). The majority of adenomas additionally found during second inspection in RFV or in SFV were located in the transverse and left-sided colon and were > 5 mm in size.
Second inspection of the whole colon leads to increased adenoma detection with no differences between SFV and RFV. Hence, increased detection is most likely a feature of the second inspection itself but not of the inspection mode.
Core Tip: This is the first study to systematically assess the effect of an additional retrograde inspection of the whole colon on adenoma detection rate compared to a second inspection in standard forward view. Our results show that both, additional inspection of the entire colon in retroflexion as well as in forward view leads to an increased adenoma detection rate with no differences between retrograde and forward inspection. Further, the majority of adenomas additionally found during second inspection in retroflexion or in forward view were located in the transverse and left-sided colon and were > 5 mm in size. These results clearly suggest that increased adenoma detection is most likely a feature of the second inspection itself but not of the inspection mode.