Next Steps After Colonoscopy with Poor Bowel Preparation

The issue of if and when to repeat colonoscopies in patients with fair or poor bowel preparation continues to plague colonoscopists. A new study addresses how often poor bowel preparation results in missed adenomas.

Investigators reviewed data from an academic outpatient endoscopy center on repeat colonoscopies in average-risk patients following screening colonoscopies with bowel preparation rated by the initial colonoscopist as poor on the Aronchick scale or as inadequate or unsatisfactory for detection of polyps ≥5 mm. Patients were excluded if their initial examination was inadequate in only part of the colon or if they had a family history of colorectal cancer. In 373 eligible patients who completed the initial colonoscopy, 26% had ≥1 ad…