Is Endoscopist Specialty Associated with Missed Colorectal Cancers?

Previous studies have shown that non-gastroenterologists miss more colorectal cancers (CRCs) during colonoscopy than do gastroenterologists. To examine this issue further, investigators in Ontario, Canada, extended a prior study showing that colonoscopies performed by primary care physicians were associated with excess risk for missed CRCs (JW Gastroenterol Apr 27 2007).

Of 110,402 individuals who had negative colonoscopies, 14.5% developed CRC during follow-up of ≤15 years. In the 95,116 of these individuals who underwent in-hospital procedures, the risk for development of CRC after colonoscopy by a general surgeon was higher than after colonoscopy by a gastroenterologist (hazard ratio, 1.39; 95% confidence interval, 1.16–1.67), as was the …