Resect and Discard Fails in a U.K. Study of Community Endoscopists

Excellent results of resect and discard have been obtained by endoscopic experts in academic medical centers with special interest in optical characterization of colorectal polyps. Although some data suggest that those results cannot be reproduced by community-based physicians, a recent community-based study in the U.S. showed excellent performance.

In the current prospective trial, 28 community-based colonoscopists in six U.K. centers were trained using a validated narrow-band imaging (NBI) training model and then performed colonoscopy using standard-definition scopes in 78% of patients and high-definition scopes in 22%.

Among 1688 participating patients, 722 (43%) had small polyps (<10 mm in size), and of these, 79% had only small polyps. U…