SAN DIEGO—Recent advances in colonoscopic technology are featured in a number of studies presented at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology this week. In this research some technologies fare better than others at improving detection of potentially pre-cancerous growths in the colon known as adenomas.
Interim results of a multi-center study of detection rates for polyps and adenomas using a retrograde-viewing device for the colonoscope, known as the Third Eye Retroscope® (TER), found that endoscopists missed more polyps with the colonoscope alone than when using the TER with the colonoscope. In a separate study, investigators found that the overall detection of both polyps and adenomas was improved with use of TER, especially after the endoscopist had completed 15 procedures, suggesting a “learning curve.”
The TER is a disposable device that is passed through the instrument channel of a standard colonoscope to provide a retrograde view that complements the forward view of the colonoscopy during withdrawal of the scope from the colon, allowing a rearview or backwards look at the far side of the numerous anatomical folds and bends in the colon.
Dr. Peter Siersema reports interim findings from a randomized, controlled, prospective study of the effectiveness of the TER for increasing the diagnostic yield of colonoscopy. This preliminary analysis of 126 patients who underwent same-day back-to-back colonoscopy and colonoscopy with TER found that the relative risk of missing a lesion with colonoscopy versus TER was 2.57 for all polyps. “When endoscopists used the colonoscope alone, they missed 2.57 times more polyps then when the used the retrograde viewing device along with the colonoscope,” explains Dr. Siersema.
