title: Are biopsy forceps helpful in the endoscopic evaluation of ulcer diameter?
abstract: A hand-made papier-mâché stomach model with hollowed-out ulcers was employed for evaluating the accuracy in estimating ulcer diameters by means of endoscopy. The opened biopsy forceps were also used as a reference marker. Ten endoscopists with various degrees of experience were involved in the study. All the endoscopists underestimated the ulcer diameters; the use of the forceps, resulted in an improvement, in particular in the case of the comparatively inexperienced endoscopists. A stomach model may be helpful in the subjective assessment of the endoscopists' ability to estimate ulcer size.
mesh_terms: D001706:Biopsy / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004724:Endoscopy / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D013276:Stomach Ulcer / Q000473:pathology*