title: Adequacy of "hot biopsy" for the treatment of diminutive polyps: a prospective randomized trial.
abstract: Patients with diminutive polyps in the rectum or sigmoid colon were randomized to "hot biopsy" treatment for either 1) electrocautery for 2 s (fixed duration cautery) or 2) cautery until visible necrosis of the polyp base was evident (variable duration cautery). Sigmoidoscopy was performed 4 wk after treatment to determine the adequacy of polyp eradication. In the fixed duration cautery group, 11 of 21 polyps (52%) were eradicated, compared with 12 of 14 polyps (86%) in the variable duration cautery group (p = 0.04). When analyzed according to whether or not visible necrosis was achieved (some of the polyps in the fixed duration cautery group showed necrosis with 2 s cautery), 19 of 23 polyps (83%) were eradicated when necrosis was evident, compared to 5 of 12 (42%) without necrosis (p = 0.004). We conclude that hot biopsy treatment for diminutive polyps is significantly more effective when visible necrosis is achieved during cautery. Furthermore, even with visible necrosis, there is a 17% failure rate of polyp eradication.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, VA Lakeside Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vanagunas
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jacob
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Vakil
mesh_terms: D000236:Adenoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D001706:Biopsy; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003111:Colonic Polyps / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D004564:Electrocoagulation / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D009336:Necrosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011897:Random Allocation; D013997:Time Factors