title: Polypectomy practices in a real life setting. Do we do enough for our patients? A review of 1061 colonoscopies.
abstract: Endoscopic removal of colon polyps is the main tool in colorectal cancer prevention programs. Although several quality indicators and guidelines have been proposed, polypectomy practices are still subject to great variation among endoscopist and little data is available regarding polypectomy practices in real life settings.
  
  
  METHODS
  The records of the 1061 screening colonoscopies performed in 2010 in a tertiary care teaching hospital in Bucharest were reviewed and all colonoscopies where at least one polyp was detected were selected for analysis. The number of detected polyps, the resection rate and method used for polypectomy were studied and compared to colonoscopy quality indicators previously reported in literature.
  
  
  RESULTS
  941 polyps were detected in 395 patients. Invasive colorectal cancer was found in 42 patients. 548 polyps (58.23%) were removed endoscopically, with at least one polyp being resected in 283 patients (71.5%), resulting in a polypectomy rate of 26.67% in the entire study population. Cold forceps resection was the most commonly used method for the resection of polyps less than 5 mm in size, while for larger polyps hot snare was the preferred method. Concomitant invasive carcinoma and a larger number of polyps were predictive of incomplete removal of all detected polyps.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Most quality indicators were met in our study group, with suboptimal performance regarding histological documentation of detected polyps and establishing a polyp-free colon.
authors.affiliation: Gastroenterology Department, Colentina Clinical Hospital, Bucharest, Romania. theodor.voiosu@gmail.com
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Voiosu
authors.forename: Corina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mărgărit
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rimbaş
authors.forename: Oyewole
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Desayo
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Voiosu
mesh_terms: D003111:Colonic Polyps / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D003113:Colonoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D061345:Early Medical Intervention / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic / Q000592:standards*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012383:Romania