Overuse of Follow-Up Screening and Surveillance Colonoscopy

Analyses based mainly on administrative claims data suggest that screening or surveillance colonoscopies sometimes are repeated too frequently. In this study from a large multispecialty practice in Boston, researchers used medical record data to examine this issue in 1429 patients who had first screening colonoscopies during a 10-year period (2000–2010).

Guidelines recommend repeat colonoscopy at 10 years after a colonoscopy with no adenomas, 5 years after detecting low-risk findings (1 or 2 small tubular adenomas), and 3 years after detecting higher-risk adenomas (NEJM JW Gastroenterol Dec 2012 and Gastroenterology 2012; 143:844). Therefore, the researchers considered repeat colonoscopies done within 9, 4, and 2 years after the aforemention…