Cold Snaring Better Than Forceps for Diminutive Polyps

There is a growing trend toward the use of resection methods without electrocautery for diminutive colorectal polyps. Use of cold snaring has become increasingly popular but has lacked supporting data from controlled studies.

In the current study, investigators from a single academic center in Korea randomized 54 patients undergoing routine colonoscopy to removal of diminutive polyps (≤5 mm) with cold snaring or cold forceps. A single experienced colonoscopist removed 117 eligible polyps (mean size, 3.66 mm), 70% of which were tubular adenomas. Compared with cold forceps, cold snaring resulted in better histologic eradication (93.2% vs. 75.9%; P=0.009) and greater efficiency (mean removal time, 14.29 vs. 22.03 seconds; P<0.001). The use of f…